The Dirt

Our friends at the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) have issued the following update about the upcoming House of Representatives vote on a one-year extension of the 2008 Farm Bill. Please take action and call your representatives today!

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The House of Representatives is poised to vote as soon as tomorrow, August 1st, on a one-year extension of the 2008 Farm Bill rather than have an open debate on the new FARRM Act (H.R. 6083) passed by the House Agriculture Committee. Although there are many provisions in the FARRM Act that CFSC does not support, we strongly believe the bill deserves to be considered on the floor of the House, open to discussion and amendment, and then conferenced with the Senate Bill, the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act (ARFJA) in the regular legislative order. This can be done before the current law expires on September 30th.

The drought scorching much of the U.S. is creating real hardship for many in farm country. Both the Senate Bill (ARFJA) and the House Agriculture Committee Bill (FARRM Act) include provisions to provide relief to growers this year. The call for a one-year extension to provide disaster aid is an unnecessary delay in the serious process of crafting responsible policies farmers, ranchers and consumers can depend on.

Call Now!
Tell your today Representative that you want them to vote NO on the one-year extension and want them to pass a 5-year 2012 Farm Bill.

It's easy to call. You can get your Representative’s name and direct number by going to Congress.org and typing in your zip code. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard, provide your Representative’s name and be directly connected to their office: (202) 225-3121.

Our friends at the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) have issued the following update about today's House Agriculture Committee markup on their draft of the 2012 Farm Bill. Please take action and call your representatives today!

 

We are very disappointed to see that the House Ag Committee rejected two amendments proposing to restore cuts to SNAP.

Call your Representative and let them know that you oppose any cuts to SNAP.

We are pleased to report that the House Ag Committee has passed:

• Rep. Johnson’s (R-IL) Amendment #62 that provides new authority to Community Food Projects program to support programs providing incentives to SNAP customers purchasing fruits and vegetables at farmers markets
• Rep. Pingree’s (D-ME) Amendment #26 (Pingree D-ME) that allows SNAP participants to use their benefits to pay in advance for food provided through a CSA share.
• But we still need your help! The House Agriculture Committee is still in the process of marking up the Farm Bill.

TAKE ACTION!

Contact your Representative immediately and tell them to support:

• Amendment #3 introduced by Rep. Pingree (D-ME) that would allow schools in small districts to use some of their commodity entitlement for local purchases and establish demonstration projects in at least 10 states to test alternative farm to school procurement models
• Amendment #103 introduced by Rep. Cardoza (D-CA) that would strike the provision in the House bill to expand the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to allow frozen, canned and dried fruits beyond its current focus of fresh produce.
• Amendment #50 introduced by Rep. Fudge (D-OH) to permit Farm Service Agency to make loans to youth farmers in cities Amendment #51 introduced by Rep. Fudge (D-OH) to authorize grants and loans for retail in underserved communities through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative Amendment #55 introduced by Rep. Walz (D-MN), Rep. Noem (R-SD), Fortenberry (R-NE) to protect conservation programs and support beginning farmers.

For a list of how CFSC priorities fare in the FARRM draft, click here.

Call Now!

Call your Representative right now and ask them to renew and strenghten these programs by matching Senate funding levels in the House version of the Farm Bill!

It's easy to call! You can get your Representative's name and direct number by going to Congress.org and typing in your zip code. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard, provide your Representative's name and be directly connected to their: (202) 225-3121.

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Questions? Please contact CFSC Policy Office: 202-481-6933.

Thank you for your help!
Community Food Security Coalition

On April 26th, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved their draft of the 2012 Farm Bill (the Agricultural Reform, Food and Jobs Act). This bill includes a substantial $23 billion in savings over 10 years, and does so by drastically cutting the budget from commodity programs as well as our critical conservation and nutrition programs.

Many of the priorities identified by SFC and our partners were included in the Senate Ag committee’s recent version. Our friends at the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) have issued an article detailing how many of our priorities fared. Please click here to read the full CFSC article.

The bill includes increased funding for:

• Farmers’ Market and Local Food Promotion Program
• Hunger-Free Community Incentive Grants
• Specialty Crop Block Grants
• Healthy Food Financing Initiative
• Improving ease of SNAP Redemption at Farmers’ Markets
• Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program

As the Farm Bill moves from the committee to the full Senate, SFC reminds you of how powerful a call to your lawmakers can be. We encourage you to call or email your Senators today to ask for their support for those priorities listed above. Consider this: If you’re not talking to Congress about food who is?

Detailed information on how to contact your representatives is included in our recent blog posting: http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/_blog/The_Dirt/post/Farm_Bill_2012_Update/