Fwd: House Farm Bill Action: Part One
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Renee Catacalos
Jul 11, 2012, 3:31:01 PM7/11/12
to Advocacy-Policy Group
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From: Mark Schonbeck <ma...@abundantdawn.org>
Date: Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 2:48 PM
Subject: House Farm Bill Action: Part One
To: Mark Schonbeck <ma...@abundantdawn.org>
From: Mark Schonbeck <ma...@abundantdawn.org>
Date: Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 2:48 PM
Subject: House Farm Bill Action: Part One
To: Mark Schonbeck <ma...@abundantdawn.org>
Dear All,
The House Agriculture Committee will begin marking-up the House version of the 2012 Farm Bill tomorrow (Wednesday July 11), and will likely complete the process by the end of the week.
As I mentioned in a recent e-mail, the draft bill offered by the committee leadership (Chair Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson) has some major gaps and deficiencies when it comes to sustainable agriculture and family farms. There is a chance that some of these can be addressed right in the Committee during this week's markup. These include strengthening beginning farmer programs, and a provision to facilitate school systems purchasing from local farms for USDA funded meal programs.
Others may need to be addressed from the floor of the House, owing to a lack of support within the Committee. Examples include the Organic Certification Cost Share program, and conservation compliance.
For those of you in Rep. Bob Goodlatte's district (6th Congressional District of Virginia), now is the time to contact his legislative aide for the Farm Bill and other agricultural issues, Carrie Meadows, at 202-225-5431. Rep. Goodlatte is vice chair of the House Ag Committee, and is thus a very important player in the Committee's work this week. If you do not reach Carrie directly, by all means leave a message on her phone, or send her an e-mail, <Carrie....@mail.house.gov>.
For those of you not in Virginia's 6th, but whose Representative also serves on the House Agriculture Committee, call your Representative's office in DC (if you do not know the number, call Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121), and ask to speak with the staff person in charge of Farm Bill and other agricultural issues.
For those of you whose Representative does not sit on the House Agriculture Committee, stand by for future action alerts related to Farm Bill action from the floor of the House of Repreesentatives. This could happen very soon - within a week or two.
Farm Bill Update by Teleconference
This evening (Tuesday July 10) at 6:00 pm - call 1-800-977-8002, code 577467#
Get the latest on the Farm Bill, including a compliation of additional Amendments lined up during the course of today, as well as more detailed suggestions for grassroots action than I can give in this e-mail.
Sarah Hackney and/or Shavaun Evans of National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) will join policy coordinators Lydia Villanueva and Gabrielle Lane of Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group to bring you the latest. They can also provide specific guidance for communications with Representative Goodlatte and other members of the House Agriculture Committee.
Please join us at 6 pm sharp by dialing 1-800-977-8002, and entering the access code 577467# at the prompt.
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) and other Beginning Farmer programs
The draft House Farm Bill would cut funding for the highly successful Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program by nearly 50%. This is clearly a step backward! Our nation's farmers are aging, and we can't afford to wait any longer to help the next generation of farmers and ranchers get off to a strong start. Programs that invest in the future of American agriculture and provide assistance to beginning and historically underserved farmers and ranchers deserve full support in the Committee's bill.
Representatives Jeff Fortenberry (R) and Tim Walz (D) will introduce an amendment to restore BFRDP funding and strengthen other beginning producer programs and provisions in the Farm Bill. When you contact Rep. Goodlatte's office to urge his support for this Amendment, emphasize that the BFRDP is already funding the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Project, coordinated through Virginia Tech; that the Coalition has developed an extensive beginning farmer training curriculum to be piloted this year by seven of its 25 partner groups, and is developing a statewide farmer mentoring network; and that beginning farmer training programs like this create new job and entrepreneurial opportuntiies and promote economic recovery. If you are personally involved in, connected with, or benefiting from (or expect to benefit from) the VA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Project, tell your story! According to NSAC policy associates (who have daily direct experience working on Capitol Hill), the overriding question in many Representatives' minds will be: does this program have positive impact in my district or my state? For BFRDP, which funds the VA Beginning Farmer Coalition, we can truthfully say it most certainly does!
In addition, Represntatives Gibson and Boswell will offer an amendment to establish a Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison at USDA. The purpose of this Liaison will be to facilitate beginning farmer training for returning military vets who want to get into the farming profession. Finally, Representatives Fudge and Fortenberry will offer an amendment to allow USDA to make small business loans tailored to meet the needs of small, young, beginning, and military veteran farmers and ranchers. These two Amendments will support and strengthen the impact of the Fortenberry-Walz amendment - again, any stories of how these measures would benefit you, your family, or anyone you know (e.g., a family member returning from the Afghanistan war for whom a farming career would help them make a successful transition back to civilian life) would be the most powerful advocacy.
Farm to School Provision
Our nation's schoolchildren deserve to eat fresh, healthy, local food in schools - and with that, the opportunity to develop healthy eating habits for life. Produce and meat from nearby farms on school lunch trays - it seems like a smart, simple concept. Yet the opportunity for farmers to create jobs, spur economic growth, and provide healthy and wholesome foods to schoolchildren in their neighborhoods is often harder than it seems because of arbitrary barriers to school meal programs accessing local food.
In its draft Farm Bill, the House Agriculture Committee missed an opportunity (that would cost nothing!) to make it easier for schools to purchase fresh, healthy, local food for children's lunches.
Representatives Ellmers (R-NC), Pingree (D-ME), and Gibson (R-NY) want to seize this opportunity, and have introduced an amendment that will make it easier for farmers to supply food to local school districts. It establishes pilot projects to allow schools to use program dollars from USDA Foods (a school food distribution program) to purchase fresh produce from local farmers.
When you call your Represenative, emphasize that this is a job-creating amendment that costs no money - and it can help to boost our local economy by supporting our local farmers! And that it is a win-win amendment for the state's farmers and schoolchildren.
Watch for additional Farm Bill alerts and updates in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Mark Schonbeck
The House Agriculture Committee will begin marking-up the House version of the 2012 Farm Bill tomorrow (Wednesday July 11), and will likely complete the process by the end of the week.
As I mentioned in a recent e-mail, the draft bill offered by the committee leadership (Chair Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson) has some major gaps and deficiencies when it comes to sustainable agriculture and family farms. There is a chance that some of these can be addressed right in the Committee during this week's markup. These include strengthening beginning farmer programs, and a provision to facilitate school systems purchasing from local farms for USDA funded meal programs.
Others may need to be addressed from the floor of the House, owing to a lack of support within the Committee. Examples include the Organic Certification Cost Share program, and conservation compliance.
For those of you in Rep. Bob Goodlatte's district (6th Congressional District of Virginia), now is the time to contact his legislative aide for the Farm Bill and other agricultural issues, Carrie Meadows, at 202-225-5431. Rep. Goodlatte is vice chair of the House Ag Committee, and is thus a very important player in the Committee's work this week. If you do not reach Carrie directly, by all means leave a message on her phone, or send her an e-mail, <Carrie....@mail.house.gov>.
For those of you not in Virginia's 6th, but whose Representative also serves on the House Agriculture Committee, call your Representative's office in DC (if you do not know the number, call Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121), and ask to speak with the staff person in charge of Farm Bill and other agricultural issues.
For those of you whose Representative does not sit on the House Agriculture Committee, stand by for future action alerts related to Farm Bill action from the floor of the House of Repreesentatives. This could happen very soon - within a week or two.
Farm Bill Update by Teleconference
This evening (Tuesday July 10) at 6:00 pm - call 1-800-977-8002, code 577467#
Get the latest on the Farm Bill, including a compliation of additional Amendments lined up during the course of today, as well as more detailed suggestions for grassroots action than I can give in this e-mail.
Sarah Hackney and/or Shavaun Evans of National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) will join policy coordinators Lydia Villanueva and Gabrielle Lane of Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group to bring you the latest. They can also provide specific guidance for communications with Representative Goodlatte and other members of the House Agriculture Committee.
Please join us at 6 pm sharp by dialing 1-800-977-8002, and entering the access code 577467# at the prompt.
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) and other Beginning Farmer programs
The draft House Farm Bill would cut funding for the highly successful Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program by nearly 50%. This is clearly a step backward! Our nation's farmers are aging, and we can't afford to wait any longer to help the next generation of farmers and ranchers get off to a strong start. Programs that invest in the future of American agriculture and provide assistance to beginning and historically underserved farmers and ranchers deserve full support in the Committee's bill.
Representatives Jeff Fortenberry (R) and Tim Walz (D) will introduce an amendment to restore BFRDP funding and strengthen other beginning producer programs and provisions in the Farm Bill. When you contact Rep. Goodlatte's office to urge his support for this Amendment, emphasize that the BFRDP is already funding the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Project, coordinated through Virginia Tech; that the Coalition has developed an extensive beginning farmer training curriculum to be piloted this year by seven of its 25 partner groups, and is developing a statewide farmer mentoring network; and that beginning farmer training programs like this create new job and entrepreneurial opportuntiies and promote economic recovery. If you are personally involved in, connected with, or benefiting from (or expect to benefit from) the VA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Project, tell your story! According to NSAC policy associates (who have daily direct experience working on Capitol Hill), the overriding question in many Representatives' minds will be: does this program have positive impact in my district or my state? For BFRDP, which funds the VA Beginning Farmer Coalition, we can truthfully say it most certainly does!
In addition, Represntatives Gibson and Boswell will offer an amendment to establish a Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison at USDA. The purpose of this Liaison will be to facilitate beginning farmer training for returning military vets who want to get into the farming profession. Finally, Representatives Fudge and Fortenberry will offer an amendment to allow USDA to make small business loans tailored to meet the needs of small, young, beginning, and military veteran farmers and ranchers. These two Amendments will support and strengthen the impact of the Fortenberry-Walz amendment - again, any stories of how these measures would benefit you, your family, or anyone you know (e.g., a family member returning from the Afghanistan war for whom a farming career would help them make a successful transition back to civilian life) would be the most powerful advocacy.
Farm to School Provision
Our nation's schoolchildren deserve to eat fresh, healthy, local food in schools - and with that, the opportunity to develop healthy eating habits for life. Produce and meat from nearby farms on school lunch trays - it seems like a smart, simple concept. Yet the opportunity for farmers to create jobs, spur economic growth, and provide healthy and wholesome foods to schoolchildren in their neighborhoods is often harder than it seems because of arbitrary barriers to school meal programs accessing local food.
In its draft Farm Bill, the House Agriculture Committee missed an opportunity (that would cost nothing!) to make it easier for schools to purchase fresh, healthy, local food for children's lunches.
Representatives Ellmers (R-NC), Pingree (D-ME), and Gibson (R-NY) want to seize this opportunity, and have introduced an amendment that will make it easier for farmers to supply food to local school districts. It establishes pilot projects to allow schools to use program dollars from USDA Foods (a school food distribution program) to purchase fresh produce from local farmers.
When you call your Represenative, emphasize that this is a job-creating amendment that costs no money - and it can help to boost our local economy by supporting our local farmers! And that it is a win-win amendment for the state's farmers and schoolchildren.
Watch for additional Farm Bill alerts and updates in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Mark Schonbeck
@fhcasa; Facebook
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