by guest blogger Amy Blankstein of Just Food, a non-profit that turns "food deserts" (i.e., neighborhoods underserved by supermarkets and other food retailers) into "islands of sustainability."
I have a confession to make: I'm intimidated by the Farm Bill. Luckily, some of my colleagues at Just Food get it (as much as it can be gotten) and can take the time to explain it to me. As much as I'd like to avoid thinking about the Farm Bill altogether and just focus on the incredibly rewarding projects we work on to connect local rural and urban farmers and New York City consumers, ignoring the Farm Bill is not an option for me--it has a tremendous impact on my own life and on the lives of the thousands of people who participate in Just Food's programs. If you eat food--and I'm guessing that you do--ignoring the Farm Bill is not an option for you either.
The term "Farm Bill" just doesn't capture the breadth of influence that this piece of legislation has on the day-to-day lives of not only farmers, but also eaters from farm country to big cities like New York and everywhere in between throughout the United States as well as internationally. In fact, a lot of people, including Michael Pollan, have suggested that we rename it the "Food and Farm Bill."
The Farm Bill is a collection of legislative farm and food acts that come up for renewal roughly every 5 years--the last of which was enacted in 2008 and represented $284 billion of the federal budget during that period. The Farm Bill sets priorities and provides funding for everything from crop subsidies, farmland preservation, international food aid and exports, nutrition entitlements (such as food stamps), lending to farms, rural infrastructure investment, research, forest protection and restoration, energy promotion (think biofuels and ethanol), organic agriculture, livestock, crop insurance and disaster assistance, and commodities trading. Head spinning yet?
Normally, the road to the final Farm Bill Act takes about a year or so. Stakeholders from all facets of the food system have ample opportunity to make their voices heard by calling their representatives or providing testimony to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, which ultimately decide the direction and funding for the Farm Bill, which is then voted on by both legislative bodies.
This year however, that noisy, democratic, and lengthy process has been upended, and advocates on all sides of the food system are scrambling to get their opinion heard. Why? Well, remember all that bluster a couple of months ago about Congress not being able to get its act together to pass the 2011 budget? Remember the "Super Committee" that was then charged with cutting $1.3 trillion from the budget by Thanksgiving if Congress still couldn't come to a consensus this fall?
As a result of all that gridlock, democracy is on hiatus. The Super Committee has tasked the Agriculture Committee with proposing $23 billion dollars in cuts to Farm Bill legislation--now. To make matters worse, just four committee members--the Senate Chair and Ranking Member and the House Chair and Ranking Member--get to shape the proposed cuts. And by the way, if the Super Committee doesn't agree with those cuts, it can completely ignore them and make their own.
As discouraging as all this may sound, there are still ways that you can make your voice heard. Here's what you can do:
• The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 1773, H.R. 3286)
• The Community Agriculture Development and Jobs Act (H.R. 3225)
• The Expanding Access to Farmers Markets Act (S. 1593)
• The Beginning Farmer Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 [H.R. 3236
Amy Blankstein is the grants and communications manager for Just Food. She is also an enthusiastic omnivore and home cook, a former magazine and book editor, and a member of her local CSA.
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She actually seems incredibly naive. "Stakeholders from all facets of the food system have ample opportunity to make their voices heard by calling their representatives". Stakeholders? Voice heard by my representatives? The only thing my congress critters seem to listen to is lobbyists. So who's lobbying on the farm bill? Monsanto, Cargill, ADM, etc. So we'll get more of the same crap food we've been getting, yay. Federal policy via the farm bill is directly related to causing the "food deserts" she is trying to water, I'm surprised she's not already aware of this.
While I agree with Michael Pollan on food itself, when it comes to involving the Federal government like this, I couldn't DISagree more. The Corporate Welfare Bill or the Big Ag Welfare Bill would be more accurate.
If "food deserts", poor-quality foods and poor health are concerns to people, look no further than the "farm bill". Crop subsidies are the major reason why mono-culture is as prevalent as it is. Farmers don't need welfare/subsides produce healthy food.
Energy promotion??? Burning food to fuel vehicles? Not only is it a waste of food, but it ensures food is more expensive and less available. It's a relatively minor burden to the poor in the US, but a major problem for the poor in developing nations.
Farmers don't need government welfare to compete with big ag - they need big ag to get off welfare. Big ag (inc. equipment and chemical dealers) buy bureaucrats with donations to get them to introduce and support legislation that severely hurts small farms and food innovators - the sort of legislation that leads to SWAT raids of raw milk suppliers and small-scale cheese makers. Enough is enough!
I am not sure she her premise is with this article.
The "farm bill" is a strategic blend of big ag and small ag taxpayer-funded welfare/subsidies sprinkled into a monstrous spending bill that has next to nothing to do with farms. Big ag gets massive handouts, but small ag is appeased by handouts of their own. A lot of the screaming about corporate bailouts isn't about the bailouts themselves, it's that *they* didn't get a bailout, too. Stop the bailouts, subsidies, welfare and favoritism for everybody - individuals, business big & small - and a lot of these government created problems will sort themselves out.