As Congress is busy shaping the 2023 Farm Bill, Senator Tim Kaine visited with farmers in Orange and Augusta counties last week. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
On Friday afternoon, Kaine toured the Allegheny Mountain Institute's farm at Augusta Health in Fishersville. The farm was started in 2018 after a Community Health Needs Assessment that showed patients were struggling to find fresh produce.
Farm Manager Hannah Dorrel led the Congressman around the small property's fields and high tunnels. To prevent over-taxing the soil –
HANNAH DORREL: We do a lot of crop rotation … rotating the types of crops that are grown year after year.
TIM KAINE: And that stops the depletion, or reduces it.
DORREL: Mmhmm. Yeah, so, two reasons – it stops the depletion, and it also confuses pests. … We have the remnants of our brassicas. So that's your kale, collards, all that fun stuff. Last year they were over here in our onion patch.
The farm is certified "naturally grown," and produces vegetables, fruits, and flowers for the hospital's cafeteria, patients, staff, and the broader community.
Kaine also met with farmers at the county government center on Friday, seeking feedback on the Farm Bill. One critique he heard was that the programs for beginning farmers are too restrictive.
KAINE: We heard this story … a woman and her husband, … they met in FFA, he works for Farm Credit, she is in an ag-adjacent business. They want to be farmers, but because neither of them have farmed, they can't qualify for the first-time farmer program.
Kaine said he would take their concerns and others he heard back to Washington.
In a discussion after the tour, Augusta Health leaders noted that more than a fifth of local residents are considered "food insecure," based on their most recent needs assessment. That group also has significant overlap with those who have been diagnosed with diabetes and/or depression.
