Appointed by Governor: C. Bernard (Bernie) Fowler, Jr.; Reginald I. Kearney.
Appointed by Senate President: Thomas M. Middleton
Appointed by House Speaker: Sally Y. Jameson
Ex officio: Jerome W. Klasmeier, designee of Comptroller of Maryland; Earl F. (Buddy) Hance, Secretary of Agriculture.
c/o Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission
P. O. Box 745
15045 Burnt Store Road, Hughesville, MD 20637 - 0745
(301) 274-1922
e-mail: cbergmark@somarylandsogood.com
In June 2013, the Task Force to Study the Implementation of a Hub and Spoke Program in the Southern Maryland Region was authorized (Chapters 292 & 293, Acts of 2013). Such a program would involve a distribution system whereby food would be moved to and from a center (or hub) by conveyer lines (or spokes) patterned like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
The Task Force assessed the nutritional needs of low-income, working poor, and unemployed people in the Southern Maryland region of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties. It then considered the infrastructure and equipment required to meet those needs with fresh farm produce. The Task Force also was to recommend sites and ways to operate and manage a hub-and-spoke collection and distribution program; strategies for education and outreach; and options for tax incentives to donors of locally grown farm food.
Of the Task Force's seven members, three were appointed by the Governor, one by the Senate President, and one by the House Speaker. Two served ex officio.
In December 2013, the Task Force submitted its report to the General Assembly and Secretary of Agriculture.
Authorization for the Task Force ended June 30, 2014.
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