Sign on letter to Senator Gillibrand for NYC
Hannah Lupien
Dear Client Choice Network NYC:
Below and attached is the sign-on letter to Senator Gillibrand about the Farm Bill, drafted by the committee set up at the NYC Food and Farm Bill Working Group last week. We want to get this to Senator Gillibrand before the Agriculture Committees have to make the recommendations to the Super Committee deficit group by Oct. 12. This is a perfect way for anti-hunger groups like food pantries to make their voices heard in protecting our funding (i.e. TEFAP and SNAP/Food Stamps). By far the largest part of the Farm Bill is the Nutrition Title, representing about two thirds of the funding and encompassing both TEFAP and SNAP.
We are looking for organizational signers (not individuals except faith leaders; we will list elected officials separately).
Please send your organization name, the name of the person to be listed as representing that organization (such as Executive Director) and your own contact info to caitli...@gmail.com
Deadline is 5 PM Thursday Oct. 6. We will send Oct. 7th AM.
Thank you for taking a minute to protect funding for food pantries and low-income individuals,
Hannah
Hannah Lupien, Food Policy Strategist
West Side Campaign Against Hunger
263 West 86th Street I New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-362-3662 (x 126) I Fax: 212-769-4341
Web: www.wscah.org I Like us on Facebook
Dear Senator Gillibrand:
We are writing to respectfully request your leadership to protect both food and farm safety nets, while championing a Farm Bill that promotes a more sustainable, healthy, and fair food system. This includes protecting funding for critical programs in the Farm Bill during the upcoming supercomittee deficit budget process.
New York City (NYC) residents have an enormous stake in the Farm Bill. Our current food system fails to meet the needs of all of New York’s producers or consumers. Currently, there are more than 1.8 million NYC residents who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The farm safety net does not meet the needs of the diversified farms of New York State.
We trust you agree that reducing hunger and ensuring affordable, healthy food for all New Yorkers must be front and center in discussions on restructuring the Farm Bill. We need you to be a vocal leader in Congress on this.
We need to ensure that our food safety net is not only maintained, but strengthened. Shocking new data reports a major upsurge in poverty. Recent census data found that more than one in five NYC residents live in poverty. The USDA recently released a report showing a 56% increase in food insecurity among New Yorkers since the onset of the recession of 2008.
We need to increase our investment in SNAP to help it achieve the goal of ending hunger. While we support the reforms advanced by national anti-hunger groups like FRAC and Feeding America, an issue of paramount importance to New York is to remove the cap on housing costs that can be included in calculating SNAP benefits.
Additionally, we repeat our prior request to hold a series of listening sessions on the Farm Bill in NYC as soon as possible. We appreciate that you have convened many such sessions in the rest of the state but nearly half of the state population resides in NYC. Furthermore, NYC contains Congressional districts that have the first and sixth highest rates of hunger in the nation. Therefore, SNAP and hunger should be a central focus of some of the listening sessions.
We applaud the national leadership role you recently played with Child Nutrition
Reauthorization. We hope you will play a similar role with the Farm Bill. Along with strengthening SNAP, we urge you to advocate for these key principles:
· A health-focused food system that increases the production of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and ensures equitable access to healthy foods.
We support new financing for healthy food access, including incentives and nutrition education for the purchase of healthy foods at farmers markets, farms stands, CSAs and cooperatives.
· More competitive, fair markets that level the playing field for producers, helping them receive a just return on what they produce. We urge you to be a strong advocate for the Fair Farm Rules that the USDA is required to issue to address the abusive and unfair trade practices employed by meatpacker and poultry companies that have harmed ranchers, farmers, growers, and consumers.
· Good environmental stewardship that preserves our vital agricultural resources and promotes energy conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. Environmental programs are a critical investment that will ensure a secure food system well into the future.
· Vibrant regional farm and food economies that sustain and support independent farmers, promote rural economic development, and rebuild local and regional infrastructure, thereby increasing access to healthy food for urban consumers. The next Farm Bill must support existing and new jobs, from beginning and disadvantaged urban and rural farmers, to new food entrepreneurs and food businesses.
In the face of attacks on the public sector in the name of deficit reduction, we maintain that the federal government has a necessary role in enforcing rules, funding programs, and providing services that serve the interests of both producers and consumers. We believe that all New Yorkers would be better served by a food system that is governed by these principles and priorities.
Thank you for your consideration.