As you may or may not know the House and Senate are nearing a final compromise on the Farm Bill. There are a lot of competing proposals and as usual the special interests and big Agriculture and Big Business are lobbying to beat the band to ensure that their places at the Federal trough are secure. We need to make sure our representatives in Congress know that we want the final legislation to address our priorities for a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable farm and food system. HealthyFarmBill.org has an easy way for you to get the message to your Representative and two Senators. They have an automated system that will send a message to the appropriate Congress person based on your zipcode. All you have to do is fill out a quick form. The goals are:
- Increases conservation funding by at least $5 billion to help farmers and ranchers protect water quality, support wildlife habitat, and transition to more sustainable practices.
- Maintains the funding levels in the House bill and incorporates the best policy provisions from both bills to support beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
- Includes the highest funding levels and best policy provisions from the two bills for farmers' markets, organic farming research and financial assistance, value-added and micro-enterprise grants, fair competition and market access, community food programs, and local food systems.
- Does not shortchange these national priorities for a costly permanent disaster program.
- Increases funding for nutrition assistance programs by at least $9 billion to ensure that more Americans are able to afford food.
If you don't support all of the goals fine but it is still important to let your Congress Critters know that we are paying attention. Finally, if you don't do this you are not allowed to whine about not having a local farmer's market where you can get local produce and you can't complain about the crap vegetables and stuff you find at the grocery.
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