Farm Bill
Nancy Piianaia
As the new Farm Bill wends its way through Congress there are still
opportunities for us to support changes in the legislation. The
Community Food Security Coalition keeps us abreast of what is
happening in Washington. Their latest email concerns community food
projects such as food banks.
Nan
September 30, 2007
Dear CFSC members and friends,
We hope that you find these Farm Bill updates helpful, and that you've
been able to use the information to contact your Senators about the
Farm Bill. As you'll read below, it is quite possible that the Senate
Agriculture Committee meets this coming week to make decisions on the
future of our food and farm programs. So RAISE YOUR VOICE NOW and help
support Community Food Projects (CFP) in the 2007 Farm Bill! It's up
to us to ensure that this successful program continues, so ask your
Senators to make sure that Community Food Projects gets as close to
$30 million in MANDATORY funding as possible (mandatory is the most
important word there). We appreciate all the support of everyone who
has already called, and thank you to all those who are reaching for
their phone right now!
To find your Senators' contact information, call the Capitol
Switchboard at 202-224-3121, or look it up at www.senate.gov. If
you've already called, consider forwarding this email to a friend or
colleague.
For more talking points on how you can help keep Community Food
Projects going, please go to http://www.foodsecurity.org/policy.
Recent Farm Bill Developments
Timing for the Senate Finance and Agriculture Committees:
Once again, lots of rumors have been circulating about when the Senate
Finance and Agriculture Committees might meet to discuss funding and
content (respectively) for the Farm Bill. The latest we've heard is
that Finance will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 3, and Agriculture may start
Thursaday, Oct. 4 or wait until after the Columbus Day recess. We will
keep you up to date as things move forward. Please check the CFSC
policy website (www.foodsecurity.org/policy <http://
www.foodsecurity.org/policy> ) for additional information on timing,
as we'll post changes to these dates if we find out something new.
The Heat is On:
House Agriculture Chairman Peterson said that he would not support an
extension to the 2002 Farm Bill instead of passing a new bill. Senate
Agriculture Chairman Harkin responded by saying that he does not
intend for there to be a long-term extension, only a short-term
extension because parts of the current farm bill are set to expire
with the end of the 2007 fiscal year on September 30, 2007. (Congress
Daily, 9/21/07)
A coalition of farm, conservation, and nutrition groups has prepared a
letter urging senators to hurry it up already. Some groups who signed
the letter have also been meeting with Majority Leader Harry Reid's
staff. So far, Reid has stayed out of the tensions between the
agriculture and finance committees, but has voiced that he is
committed to getting a new farm bill passed as soon as possible. CFSC
is a co-signer on this letter (Congress Daily, 9/27/07)
Proposals being released:
On Wednesday, in an effort to get the Farm Bill moving in the Senate,
Budget Chairman Conrad (D-ND) presented a proposal with three options
that would increase spending while making cuts to the direct payment
program. The increases for spending would run between $10.4 and $11.9
billion while the cuts in direct payments would fall between $1 and
$1.5 billion. Conservation and energy programs and Baucus' proposed
permanent disaster aid program were not included in Conrad's proposal
because their funding would be provided by the Finance Committee.
With pressure mounting from the release of Conrad's proposal and the
increasing attentions of Democratic leaders in the Senate, Harkin
released his farm bill plans on Thursday. His proposal would increase
spending on all programs included in the bill by $18.2 billion. This
would include spending on commodities, specialty crops, nutrition,
conservation, energy, rural development, trade programs, research, and
credit programs but does not include the disaster relief program,
whose $5 billion would come from the finance committee. (Congress
Daily, 9/27/07)
Harkin's proposals include a new U.S. Senate blueprint on food aid,
which would boost funding for long-term assistance and experiment with
buying crops from foreign farmers. It received mixed reviews this week
from U.S. farm and aid groups. One of the ideas included would allow
more U.S. crops purchased for the program to be stored overseas, near
countries at risk of food shortages.
Nutrition Title:
Anti-hunger advocates are disappointed that Harkin has not yet
released a draft of the nutrition title, which includes the Food Stamp
Program and other anti-hunger programs. Harkin has said that he wants
to increase funding for food stamps by about the same $4 billion over
five years that was approved in the version of the bill that was
passed by the House in July. The House version of the farm bill
changed the name of the food stamp program to "Secure Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program," but acting Secretary of Agriculture
Chuck Conner, who recently replaced Mike Johanns, has said that he too
wants a different name for the program, but does not like this one
that the House picked out. (Congress Daily 9/27/07)
House Agriculture Committee Member to Retire:
On September 26th, Rep. Terry Everett, (R-AL) announced that he will
retire at the end of his term. Everett would have been in line to
become the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee.
Country of Origin Labeling (COOL):
Agriculture Committee Chairman Harkin said that the Senate's version
of the farm bill will include a country-of-origin labeling requirement
for meat products. (Congress Daily 9/26/07)
A Plea to Keep Direct Payments:
A letter, signed by Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS), Charles Grassley (R-
IA), John Thune (R-SD), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman, was sent to
Harkin and Grassley urging them to not cut crop farmer's direct
payments, claiming that the program is the most WTO compliant part of
the farm bill. Senator Conrad commented that all the members of the
Agriculture Committee are in agreement that they do not want to cut
direct payments, but that they are dealing with a tight financial
situation.
Media Report:
Here are links to some interesting articles and editorials about food
and nutrition policy, local food issues, and food security that we
found this week:
San Francisco Chronicle by Carolyn Lochhead: "Federal bill helps huge
farmers, not California's innovative ones"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/23/MNR7S0CTL.DTL&tsp=1
Washington Post article by Jane Black: "Should Drinks like Gatorade
Sport the 'Junk Food' Label?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092502281.html?referrer=emailarticle
Detroit Free Press by Ken Dahlberg: "Proposed Farm Bill falls short on
food security"
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709200360
NY Times op-ed by Francis X. Clines: "A Withered Harvest in the
Bronx"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/opinion/20thur4.html?_r=4&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Grand Rapids Press op-ed by Marsha Dehollander: "Investment in food
stamps vital to hungry families"
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1189232879131770.xml&coll=6
Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, SD) op-ed by Dr. David B. Wallinga: "Farm
Bill can help to reduce childhood obesity"
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070921/VOICES05/709210316/-1/VOICES
Cedar County News (Hartington, NE) column by Curt Arens, available on
the Farm to Family Connection site: "Food Security is Farm Security"
http://www.farmtofamily.net/commentary_Oct07.shtml
Link to a story on the Oklahoma Food Co-op that ran on KOTV Channel 6:
http://www.kotv.com/e-clips/news/?id=8804
CFSC Reports!
CFSC staff attended the Consumer Federation of America conference this
week, and on Friday, September 28, they had quite the line-up-speakers
included Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Agriculture Chairmen Harkin (D-
IA) and Peterson (D-MN) from the Senate and House, respectively. Below
are summary paragraphs, brought to you our own CFSC staff.
Food Safety from Sen. Durbin
By Kacie Warner
With the American public becoming increasingly concerned about the
safety of imported products, particularly food, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-
IL) insisted that we need a reform of the current system soon.
Therefore, Durbin said that he will be putting forth an amendment to
the Farm Bill that will streamline the food inspection system of the
USDA. Currently, there are twelve agencies that play a role in the
regulation of food. With this amendment, Durbin seeks to consolidate
the regulation system into one agency over two years. Durbin also
spoke about the upcoming Imported Food Security Act that will seek to
increase the scope and scale of USDA standards and inspections, with a
new import tax to fund these measures.
The House Farm Bill Recap from Chairman Peterson
By Sarah Martin
In his statement, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson
(D-MN) addressed several of the many highly debated components of
July's House-passed farm bill. With a lower budget and a greater
number of interests pushing for funds, Peterson admitted, he was not
able to pass a perfect bill. However, he spoke in defense of the
bill's commodity title - which includes maintained funding for "direct
payments", a system that has faced criticism because it pays farmers
for acres that they may no longer cultivate. The Chairman insisted
that many family farmers rely on the "safety net" that the commodity
title provides. On the topic of regulations, Peterson expressed
satisfaction with the House bill's requirement of Country of Origin
Labeling (COOL) for meat. Further, though, Peterson expressed hopes to
see a Farm Bill that will authorize state inspection of meat. He
argued that current requirements for federal inspection impede the
growth of smaller-scale grass-fed and organic meat operations, and
prevent domestic meat from crossing state borders while imported meat
faces fewer restrictions. A number of audience members took issue with
the Chairman's remarks, but he insisted that as the 2007 Farm Bill is
a work in progress, he will remain open to conversation and
negotiation.
Sen. Harkin Prioritizes Nutrition, Conservation, Reform
By Steph Larsen
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) spoke as
passionately as ever about his priorities for the 2007 Farm Bill,
which include a strong nutrition title, more funding for conservation,
and commodity reforms that protect farmers from a volatile market
while honoring our trade agreements. He reminded the audience that
legislation of this magnitude is rarely on time, especially when there
is no new money to work with. He spoke specifically about reforming
direct payments, tightening payment limits, and investing in rural
infrastructure. He feels he has an obligation to broaden eligibility
for the Food Stamp Program and increase the minimum benefit, and to
address the childhood obesity epidemic with greater access to fruits
and vegetables for kids. He ended with the statement that the Farm
Bill will be on the Senate floor in October, and he doesn't expect any
drastic changes but that Senators need to hear from their constituents
about their food and farm priorities.
Don't forget to call your Senators about Community Food Projects!
Thanks for your support,
Steph, Kacie, and Sarah
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Community Food Security Coalition
110 Maryland Ave. NE Suite 307
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: 202.543.8602
Email: St...@foodsecurity.org
www.FoodSecurity.org