Good morning, everyone, on this Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday was yesterday, with Easter coming in 40 days.

We have one possible Easter Sunday story, but we're wondering: anyone out there have a good idea for us?

In other news:

The Farmland Preservation Fund (FPF) continues its way through the Tennessee legislature, with a boost, thanks to Gov. Bill Lee's State of the State.

Yesterday, the Senate Finance, Ways and Means committee passed its version of the bill - SB0207 - with a 10-0 unanimous vote. (This is the same committee, vice-chaired by Sen. Bo Watson, that was so instrumental in restoring funds after the LFPA fallout.)

Here's the video.

The FPF would establish a fund to aid in the creation of conservation easements. Financially, it would support farmers and landowners wanting to preserve their farms from subdivisions and strip malls.

On the House side, the bill is coming up for discussion in the House subcommittee on Ag and Natural Resources.

Subcommittee members include two Hamilton County representatives: Greg Vital and Greg Martin.

Both men are proven supporters of farmland and farmers, especially Harrison's Rep. Vital, who's done more than most of us could ever realize in support of Tennessee agriculture.

It's a good time to encourage Rep. Martin to support this bill.

You can find his legislative contact here.

His email: rep.greg.martin@capitol.tn.gov

His office: (615) 741-2548

Our friends from the Southeast Tennessee Young Farmers' Coalition offer a one-page suggestion on terms and language. A script, essentially.

The Food as a Verb community was instrumental in raising awareness in Nashville during the LFPA crisis. It would be a good time to throw your weight around again.

• Thanks, Chef Niel.

And thanks to all of you who joined us at Little Coyote last month for a fabulous speaker series "Conversation with Erik Niel."

The evening was rich and meaningful on so many levels. Chef Niel was equal parts wise, inviting and illuminating. Plus, you all asked some of the finest questions I've ever heard from an audience.

Haley Bartlett at NOOGAToday wrote a fabulous review of the evening - read it here - and our friend Tim Moore of Tim_Eats posted an excellent video.

Stay tuned. We're already at work on the next speaker series.

• On April 11, Josh Carter is hosting a special evening at St. John's with the esteemed Mary Taylor of Mary Taylor Wine.

"She is bringing a large group of European growers that she works closely with to produce her dynamic wines," Josh said.

The evening casual tasting begins at 5 pm followed by a five-course meal. The evening features over 20 wines, complete with live music, all held outside on the St. John's lawn.

For tickets or info, visit here.

A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

• Earlier this week, the White House announced 25% tariffs on certain goods from China, Mexico and Canada.

Here's the Associated Press:

The economics of this are above our pay-grade, yet one very real, very wholesome, very effective solution?

Shop the Main Street Farmers' Market each Wednesday.

Make it a weekly duty - civic, social, cultural, spiritual and culinary - to visit the market, where you can find hundreds of items, all locally-grown, appropriately-priced and tariff-free.

• Finally, this Sunday, we're bringing you a story about one courageous woman working to solve one of our city's most entrenched problems.

The east Chattanooga food desert.

Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com

This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.