Building a Vision for Rural Pennsylvania Kicks Off Listening Sessions

Philadelphia forum builds bridge between rural and urban regions

PHILADELPHIA - The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee hosted the first listening session in its Building a Vision for Rural Pennsylvania series today, Committee Chairman Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster) said.

State Senator Shirley Kitchen (D-Philadelphia) hosted the public session for her Committee colleagues at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia, part of the North Philadelphia Health System.

"This morning, we heard a variety of perspectives about the way that agriculture impacts Pennsylvanians," Brubaker said. "As we work to build an agenda for our Committee, it will be important that we incorporate both urban and rural viewpoints into a comprehensive plan."

"I appreciate Senator Brubaker's willingness to hold this meeting and start a dialogue between urban and rural communities," Kitchen said. "This is historical in the urban area, and we need to understand our environment and agriculture – rural and farming regions are not the only ones affected by the decisions made by this committee."

Members of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee heard testimony from several local food groups about increasing the availability of and access to affordable, nutritious food, including the SHARE Food Program of PA, PhilAbundance and The Food Trust.

"Access to healthy food leads to healthy communities," said Steveanna Wynn with the SHARE Program.

Andrew Altman, Executive Director of the White Dog Café Foundation, agreed, emphasizing the need to purchase locally grown foods, thereby creating a stronger connection between farms and their customers, which can include individuals, restaurants or hospitals.

"State government must focus more on the storage, administration and distribution of food that goes through the food banks," said Bill Clark, Executive Director of PhilAbundance. "Just as you need hospitals and doctors to distribute medicine, you must have a strong infrastructure for distribution of food to the needy."

During the session, Phil Clemens announced that Hatfield Quality Meats has pledged to donate 100,000 pounds of their products to PhilAbundance.

"On behalf of myself and those who will benefit from this generous donation, I want to take this opportunity to thank Hatfield for their wonderful support over the years," Clark said.

Representatives of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and the dairy and swine industries were also in attendance.

"We cannot pick winners and losers in agriculture," said the Farm Bureau's Gary Swan. "There is a need for all sizes and types of farms in Pennsylvania, and we must work together."

"I want to thank Senator Kitchen for inviting us to Philadelphia," Brubaker said. "We received a lot of good information here, and I am looking forward to the rest of the sessions we are planning to hold across the Commonwealth over the next few months."

The next listening session in the Building a Vision for Rural Pennsylvania series will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on March 16 at Four Seasons Produce in Ephrata.

Contact:

Kristin Ebersole, Executive Director
Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

717-787-4420