Farm Bill Reform

Two days from now the House will vote on the next Farm Bill and while there has been some progress made, I can't tell you what in this moment, in many ways the new Farm Bill is two steps backwards -- commodity subsidies are higher than ever, conservation funding has been spread thin and funding to develop access for real food in low income communities has been cut.

I've sent the following letter to House Speaker Pelosi at the link above. Feel free to copy and sign your name and send it too. Or give her a call. The number is there too. It can't hurt.

Dear House Speaker Pelosi,

I am writing in a last effort to ask you to seek major reform in our current farm bill.

I believe that we need to transform the current farm bill, which makes a huge business of subsidizing commodity crops that result in falsely inexpensive, empty calorie foods on our grocery shelves and which subsequently lead to high numbers of obesity and diabetes in our country, to a farm bill that supports real food. We need to support a farm bill that weighs heavy on the conservation of our land, air and water. A farm bill that encourages sustainable farming, young farmers. A farm bill that works to make available real food in all of our communities, across all socioeconomic lines and in our institutions and school lunch programs.

We must move away from a farm bill that threatens our family and small farms, here and in our neighboring countries. We must move away from a farm bill that threatens our national food security by encouraging mono-crops by a few industrial farming corporations and instead we must encourage our local farms and their markets all across America to cultivate native and sustainable crops that naturally thrive within their environment.

The Agriculture Committee's proposal as it now stands is not real reform. There is still work to be done.

Please continue to work towards reform for a bill that supports family farms and not corporate subsidies. A bill that supports food and not commodities. A bill that supports conservation and not the further pollution of our farm lands. Please continue to work towards a bill that supports a healthy generation of young people.

Thank you for your time and hard work.

Best Regards,
Katrina D.