Fort Valley State University’s (FVSU) Cooperative Extension Program hosted the 42nd Ham and Egg Legislative Breakfast on Wednesday, April 24th, at the C.W. Pettigrew Farm and Community Life Center on campus.
Approximately 134 people attended the event which included elected officials, alumni, Extension employees and farmers.
The event began with a southern style breakfast and networking. In addition, Georgia State Rep. Patty Stinson served as the mistress of ceremony and Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr., of Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, was the featured speaker.
Congressman Bishop discussed several topics to include the 2024 Agriculture Appropriations the 2024 Farm Bill, the 1890 Scholars Program and other policies and programs that impact Georgia farmers.
During his address, Congressman Bishop said he is working to maintain all the programs put in place in the previous farm bill and the agriculture appropriations bill.
“We want to fight against any attempts to cut back on them because they are needed especially now. In conjunction with the upcoming Farm Bill, we want to make sure we have adequate investments so that we have a safety net for farmers who have been challenged so much over the last three years. This year many of them are going to have to sell some of their property to pay their debts from last year, or they won’t be able to plant because lenders are cutting back. It’s a real challenge, so we must include in the farm bill some safety net programs,” Bishop said.
In addition, Bishop also spoke about the work he’s done to create and maintain the 1890 Scholarship Program.
“The average age of farmers of every demographic is 59, and every year it is going up because fewer young people are going into it. The national scholar’s program, which is funded through the 1890s is designed to incentivize and keep that pipeline growing of people going into agriculture. It provides a full scholarship, internships, apprenticeship experiences to young people who attend 1890s on this scholarship” he said.
Brendia King, a farmer from Bainbridge, Georgia, attended the breakfast for the second time. The 70-year-old shared that she was impressed with the elected officials concern for education and farmers.
“The programs Congressmen Bishop is trying to champion right now is something that I’ve really been concerned about. From what he said today, that tells me that he is focused on what is going to happen today and beyond today,” King said.
“Most of what he was speaking about has been in the media,” said Charlie Backey, a 72-year-old farmer from Colquitt, Georgia.
“He (Congressmen Bishop) went into further details about it, and shared the different things he does in his position to advocate for farmers,” Backey said.
The breakfast ended with closing remarks from Dr. Mark Latimore, Jr., Fort Valley State University’s associate dean for Extension, and a stage reading by the FVSU Department of Arts and Communications and Social Task Force. The reading honored the original Ham and Egg Show.
The Ham and Egg Breakfast pays tribute to the historic Ham and Egg Show created in 1916 by Houston County Extension agent and FVSU alumnus Otis O’Neal.
Featured in Life magazine, the show drew thousands as it allowed African American farmers for the first time to showcase their agricultural products. Located on FVSU’s campus, it became so popular that it spawned the Folk Life Festival, believed by the Library of Congress to possibly be the first African American folk festival in the country.