The Senate is scheduled to have a debate on the Farm Bill on Monday, May 20th. Below is a message adopted from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Action Center; please send to your Senators now to help protect nutrition programs for all Americans! If you don't know who your Congressional representatives are or their contact information, you can find it here.
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Please protect nutrition programs (Title IV) and nutrition research (Title VII) in the Farm Bill. Your support of a Farm Bill, focused on strong nutrition programs and research, that supports healthy people as well as the health of the earth, will improve the health of Americans and stimulate local economies.
As a constituent, I urge you to:
Protect funding for –
• The SNAP-Nutrition Education (SNAP-Ed) Program. In order to make healthy food choices on a limited budget, people need to be empowered with knowledge. SNAP-Ed educates families and has proven to lead to healthier eating habits. SNAP-Ed is a necessary benefit of the larger Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) package. SNAP-Ed is also in every state, including yours!
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides eligible, low-income families monthly benefits to purchase much needed food. SNAP also stimulates the economy by increasing participants’ purchasing power. For every $5 in new SNAP benefits, as much as $9.20 is generated in local economic activity.
• The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) supplies low-income families, many of which are seniors, USDA commodity foods. The CSFP food package provides good sources of the nutrients typically lacking in the diet of this population.
• The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) provides nutritious foods that supplement the diets of low-income needy persons. This program utilizes organizations like food banks to reach this population.
• A strong Research and Extension title. Evidenced-based food and agriculture research will ensure a safe and healthy food supply for years to come. Investing in food, nutrition and agriculture research is vital to guide sound decisions. Much of this research is conducted at each state’s land grant university.
Protect the program integrity of -
• The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) provides school children access to fresh fruits and vegetables. This program has been shown, in a robust 2013 evaluation, to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption by 15%, without increasing their overall calorie intake. This means children are eating fresh fruits and vegetables instead of other, potentially less healthy foods. FFVP also helps creates the foundation for healthy life-long habits.
• The Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program benefits seniors and local farmers. This well established and well received program provides seniors access to seasonal produce while supporting local farmers and economies.
These important programs: 1.Contribute to healthy life-long habits; 2. Allow recipients to maintain their health and well-being during temporary times of economic hardship; and 3. May decrease the risk of developing costly and debilitating chronic diseases which strain our healthcare system.
Please protect these extremely valuable programs as the Farm Bill is debated on the Senate floor.
It's been an busy, exciting past couple of months in the world of nutrition, food justice, and food system advocacy. The Hunger & Environmental Nutrition (HEN) Dietetic Practice Group of the newly re-named Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) finalized a new set of Corporate Sponsorship Guidelines to guide the sponsorship activities not only of HEN, but also to serve as an example of what many Academy members, Registered Dietitians, and other nutritionists would like to see as the guidelines adopted by the Academy at large.
The Environmental Working Group launched the "Good Food on a Tight Budget" shopping guide, and HEN held a webinar to give an overview. (Info from this webinar, as well as other HEN webinars on GMOs and "Healthy Institutions: Strategies for Farm to Tray," are on the HEN website).
Another great video, along the same lines of describing the global food crisis & how to fix it, is "Feeding Nine Billion":
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy shared their Draft Principles of Food Justice, created after the Food + Justice = Democracy conference in September.
Christina Schiavoni, food sovereignty advocate and moderator of Oxfam Action Corps NYC's International Women's Day event in March, moved on from her position at WHY Hunger to focus more intensively on food sovereignty from abroad, but not before imparting the wisdom about the film "Growing Change" about food sovereignty in Venezuela, which I am hoping we can organize a screening of in the coming year.
When Hurricane Sandy hit, Occupy Faith NYC made the connections between those hardest hit in Rockaway and Cuba: climate change inevitably has a greater impact on the poor.
Locally: The NYC Nutrition Education Network held a "Sustainability in the Food System" event in March (here's a resource list from the event). Bronx Health REACH held a Bronx School Health & Wellness Conference in May, and published a newsletter documenting this and much of our other nutrition and fitness work. The "Just in the Bronx: Our Voice, Our Choice" Summit was in September, where Professor Mark Naison from Fordham University gave the keynote address (which you can read on the Bronx Health REACH blog). At the Summit, there was a Call to Action for both community members and elected officials, in regards to how we can improve the health of the Bronx. Bronx Health REACH also became the borough-lead for the Community Transformation Grant in NYC - focused on improving healthy eating, active living, and reducing alcohol and tobacco - which is being overseen by the Partnership for a Healthier NYC.
I learned about the Ironwill Foundation, a great organization that does nutrition education classes for parents at the Mercy Center in the Bronx, and numerous middle schools throughout NYC and Newark, NJ with the Ironwill Kids PowerUp! curriculum. (video!). I also got to see the premiere of the film "Soul Food Junkies" at Lincoln Center, which will be broadcast nationally on PBS on January 14, 2013 at 10pm.
Since seeing the film Forks Over Knives over a year ago (which does a good job promoting a plant-based diet), I heard some critiques about its subjectivity and even had doubts about a few things myself. Then I read some of this critique of The China Study, which delves deep into the scientific literature and should keep any scientist, doctor, or dietitian busy for a while. Suffice it to say, I still believe the Oxfam GROW Method is the ideal way to eat to support health and environmental sustainability.
If you learn nothing else from reading this post, you should know that the food system is broken. There are many contributing factors to this, but a considerable portion can be traced back to the actions of a few multinational food conglomerates and governments which support these corporations. This happened with NAFTA, which favors the US in trade agreements and basically dumps overly subsidized grain products onto other countries, driving the price of these commodities down so low that many farmers in the developing countries receiving the grains can't make a living farming anymore, thereby becoming economic refugees, fleeing to the US (how ironic) as immigrants, trying to make a new life for themselves. This is what The Other Side of Immigration looks like and is the irony of the Harvest of Empire. The impact of corporations and their ability to undermine communities (and even governments) has the potential to become exponentially worse if we don't pay attention to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a new free trade agreement that has been questioned — if not outright opposed — by environmental, consumer, indigenous, family farm, labor and other social justice groups on four continents. We must plead that governments don't blindly sign on to this, especially without the text being made public.
It would not be possible to make this post completely comprehensive of all the great work of food justice advocates or even all of the initiatives I've learned about this year, but hopefully this provides you with some good food for thought and action :) And just for kicks, here's some more good info not mentioned above. Happy 2013!
I first came to know about Sojourners because of NY Faith & Justice.NY Faith & Justice(which worked with Bronx Health
REACH back in 2010-2011) was born out of an
inspiring conversation that Lisa Sharon Harper, Rev. Dr. Peter Heltzel, and others
had during a Sojourners conference, after a deep
faith-rooted visit in Congressman Rangel’s office in Washington, D.C. back in
2006.NY Faith & Justice was formed
to unite the church & speak out for social justice in NYC.Other Faith & Justice networks were
formed in other cities, such as Boston, Ohio, and Portland.The faith leaders who formed these justice
networks all remained connected to Sojourners.They have also formed partnerships with many other organizations such as
college campus groups like InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship, and national associations of various Christian
groups. One notable partnership has been with CLUE
(Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice) in Los Angeles, CA.CLUE, and Alexia Salvatierra in particular,
has developed a model of organizing and working with elected officials that is
rooted in the core of our faith called Faith-Rooted
Organizing.CLUE staff travels
around the country and the world conducting these trainings that leave
participants feeling empowered and hopeful.
In
spring 2011, NY Faith & Justice organized one of these faith-rooted
organizing trainings in NYC at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan. This was a one-day training where faith
leaders from all over NYC were able to attend and learn the nuts and bolts of
faith-rooted organizing. Then, in fall
2011, NYFJ organized another faith-rooted organizing training, this time at
Walker Memorial Baptist Church in the Bronx, which was an entire weekend-long training,
including Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, culminating in
an “action” on Monday morning. Since
then, Lisa Sharon Harper has left NY Faith & Justice to work full-time for
Sojourners in Washington, D.C., as the Director of Mobilizing. Now, in summer 2012, I recently had the
opportunity to attend a faith-rooted organizing training at the Sojourners
national office – the “Organize2Mobilize”
training.
For
those of us who have no formal community organizing training, the faith-rooted
model is quite refreshing. As a group,
we define faith-rooted organizing and how it differs from secular
organizing. We answer questions such as,
What are the ways that faith can contribute to the larger movement for justice
in our world? and, What are the gifts of faith that we can bring to the table? Through scripture study, analysis and
reflection of stories of others in the Bible who organized and spoke
prophetically about justice, we learn how to apply those same approaches to the
social realities we experience today. We
learn to identify our own faith-rooted motivation, to tap into the power of
faith and story-telling that is abundant in marginalized communities; to
minister to people with power and to see recruitment through God’s eyes. But
first we learn to identify the core “lie” that society is blindly feeding us
about a particular issue, the Biblical antidote to the lie, and the clearest
manifestation of the lie.
While
these ideas have been codified by Alexia Salvatierra, Lisa Sharon Harper and
their colleagues at CLUE and Sojourners, they are not new. They’ve been around
for years… and have been the method by which some of history’s most renowned
justice seekers have approached their work.
Gandhi saw an injustice in his country as the British colonialists outlawed
cloth spinning so they could take the techniques they learned in India back to
Britain, and sell it back to India at an inflated price. Taking this skill and trade away from the
natives was the clearest manifestation of the “lie” (that colonization was
“good”). Gandhi took the nonviolent
resistance approach (a Biblical antidote, as we see in Jesus’ teaching to “turn
the other cheek” or “walk the extra mile” (Matthew 5:38-41)) and told people to
spin their own cloth, despite what the English said to do.
In
a similar way we see Rosa Parks’ effort as a faith-rooted approach. The lie, that it was okay to segregate people
of color, was most clearly manifested in segregation on the bus, because blacks
were only allowed to sit in the back of the bus. The spiritual antidote is that all people are
created equal. Hers was also one of nonviolent
resistance.
The
Occupy movement clearly identified the lie that accumulation of wealth does no
harm, pointing out that corporations are (and should not be) treated as people,
and that the public sphere is owned by private corporations.
Antonio
Torres from Bronx Health REACH and
Christ the King Catholic Church pointed out the core lie that the church is believing
today, that it’s not the place of the pastor to cross the line into discussing
social issues. Another similarly connected lie is that money is the only force
that can create substantive policy change, while the spiritual truth is that
people power can be an effective counterweight to money’s loud voice.
During
this particular training I found the outlining of the Thresholds of Recruitment
to be one of the most thought-provoking and useful exercises to go
through. Lisa started off this session
by telling her own narration of some of the key turning points in her life
which brought her to Christ. But politicians
are people too, and we can be part of their journey of transformation by using
the moral authority that our faith provides us, to help expand their ideas of what
it means to have courage to give a preferential option for the poor. In the
best cases this will not just influence the way the politicians vote on bills,
but also the way they talk to other legislators. People of faith have the power
to move legislators to speak prophetically about the importance of treating all
people with equality. By returning to the Commandment to treat your neighbor as
yourself, to be your brother’s keeper – we can remind legislators what it means
to make sure that we take care of kids even if they are not our own. To take care of people living in areas that
might be disproportionately affected by a potential new industrial site that
emits excessive pollution; that are disproportionately affected by climate
disruption (the US has 4% of the world’s people but emits 25% of the world’s
greenhouse gases); or that cannot properly benefit from programs that were set
up to supposedly help lift people out of poverty, because of unaddressed
barriers and red tape keeping people from utilizing these resources most
effectively. To make sure that our
agricultural policies are not set up in such a way that undermines the economies
of other countries, destroys the naturally renewable resources God has provided
for us, and promotes diet-related diseases disproportionately among the poor
because subsidies make unhealthy products much more affordable than healthy
foods. If we can get Congressmen/women
and other legislators to see the human and on-the-ground realities of what their
policies look like in communities, this will bring them closer to understanding
specifically what they need to advocate for when they are developing and voting
on policies.
During
the training we heard from several cutting edge social justice thinkers of this
country, one of which was Tom Perriello, former US Congressman from Virginia,
who advocates use of moral authority and believes in people-powered politics
(he didn’t take lobby money as a Congressman).
He’s worked on and taught justice-based security strategies, and has
helped lead a resurgence of moderate and progressive faith leaders advocating
on issues of poverty, economic fairness, tolerance, and environmental
stewardship. He helped launch Faith in Public Life, FaithfulAmerica.org,
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and Catholics United. Perriello currently serves as the President
and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund and Counselor for
Policy at CAP. CAP is a nonpartisan
political think tank and advocacy organization that works to raise the level of
policy debates through commonsense communication, such as its coverage
of the Nuns on the Bus Tour and criticism of the Ryan budget.
Perriello’s
words of wisdom for working with legislators include helping them realize what
will be good for people while also making the legislators look good; using
facts and moral authority; and asking legislators why they came into public
office.
We
also heard from Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, President of the Skinner
Leadership Institute who has served as the Executive Director of the
Congressional Black Caucus as well as many other boards, including the Christian Community Development Association. Dr. Williams-Skinner is an advocate of going
in to visit elected officials with prayer, as the spirit of compassion helps to
humanize the legislators one is addressing.
She suggests adopting Jesus’ indignation about how poor/low-income
people are being treated, and speaking with a posture of “I don’t agree with
your position, but help me to understand it.”
Many times legislators want the best for their constituents but often
times their facts are missing or wrong.
We can work to correct this misinformation by telling our own stories
and providing factual information.
Sharing
a panel discussion with Dr. Williams-Skinner was Larisa Friesen Hall, Director
of Major Gifts at Sojourners. Larisa stressed
the importance of identifying what posture we address people with – we should
try to understand where the rich politicians are coming from (75% of people in
Congress are millionaires) such as by watching Fox. We must emphasize that budgets are moral documents
and that it’s righteous to be concerned about people. While there is a lot of dirty money in
Congress, the act of redemption is possible, if politicians decide to take
money from something bad and turn it into something good. Resources she suggested to look into further
include Bolder Giving and The
Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen.
Tim
King, Chief Communications Officer for Sojourners, and Eric Sapp from the Eleison Group led a session on “Messaging
to Move Legislators.” The Eleison Group
leads educational campaigns to align what’s right with what works politically
and economically, and empowers progressive activists to connect authentically
with the faith and values of vet voters.
They’re proponents of approaching faith in the public square from a
place of humility. The Eleison Group specializes in media messaging – targeting
messaging for specific audiences (not the “general public”), getting to the
root of what people’s values are. For example, in Texas, anti-corruption is the
message, not anti-corporation. At the
end of the day there are ways to reach the same policy goals, but just using
different messaging tactics.
Sapp
advocates for making sure values are integrated into our messaging, and that people
can answer the question, Why do you
believe what you believe? People make
decisions with their hearts, not with their heads. He noted Obama’s moving campaign speech in
2007 (which spoke to people’s hearts) when he was a Senator vs. his transactional,
verbiage-heavy approach used when he became President (which spoke to people’s
heads). While the “what” of policy can
be complicated, the “why” (message) should be simple. Messages should be communicated in terms of
right and wrong, keeping the end goal (telos) in mind. When communicating with
legislators, we need to stay humble and honest, and keep our messaging
memorable and simple. It was suggested
that environmental advocates reframe the message being used in advocacy,
because the current messaging isn’t working. Some politicians will shut us out if we
mention the words “climate change” (which raises disputes about scientific
validity) whereas “creation care” hits at the same issue but touches on the
moral imperative to be stewards of the Earth. Our messaging should also include a way to
make the leader look good. It’s
important to point out that the poor pay the greatest price for our actions
relating to the environment; however, what will appeal to many electeds is to
let them know that America is losing out on an economic future (as China takes
over the solar panel industry, for example).*
Tim
King added that public figures that make public statements should be held
publicly accountable. We should critique
people we often agree with to keep pushing them forward. (“People are too nice to Obama.”) As Tim says, it would be nice if Obama gave a
heartfelt faith-based account for the poor.
We
also had the honor of hearing Jim Wallis (founder of Sojourners) speak. He spoke about the power that the faith
community can hold in Washington, D.C., and gave the example of Sojourners’
role in organizing evangelicals which ultimately led to a change
in immigration policy. At the end of
his captivating speech, he said that the difference between events and
movements is sacrifice and asks, “Where is your moral courage?”
Beau
Underwood, Campaigns Manager at Sojourners, provided some tips on planning our
Capitol Hill visits which would occur the next day. A few pointers which are useful for any visit
with an elected official: time is
limited, so be sure to control the agenda; make a clear ask; and determine
follow-up. In the actual meeting, be
sure to introduce yourself & explain why you’re there, have a storyteller
speak who can offer a reflection (ideally from personal experience), and lay
out the issues and share your faith-informed perspective. In accordance with the National Mobilizing
Circle, we were to ask Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Supporting data is valuable and should be
presented, but people of faith are not expected to be policy wonks – the strength
of people of faith lies in our ability to make moral arguments. But as for the supporting data: according to the
Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities, extending tax cuts for those who make between
$250,000 and $1 million would cost the US $366 billion over ten years, making
programs (i.e. relating to health, environment, social services, foreign aid
& other programs for the poor etc) very vulnerable to cuts.
Wendy
Tarr from Clergy & Laity United for Economic
Justice in L.A. provided some additional tips for faith-rooted
advocacy. It’s important when speaking
to our political representatives that we foster relationships with them. Relationships
can open doors, change minds, and ensure our voice is heard. After the visit, note what the member/staff
said and any commitments made. Develop a plan for following up and providing
any additional information requested by the office.
One tenant of faith-rooted advocacy is using religious symbols in delegations. The one we used with Senator Gillibrand’s and
Schumer’s offices was that of milk and honey (making a just decision) vs.
bitter herbs (making a decision which perpetuates injustice). (While the food analogy from the Old
Testament is nice, I took it a step further by saying that policies which
promote cheap, unhealthy food in the American diet is more like feeding poor
people a bag of Doritos instead of a piece of fruit.)
Now what?
Organize2Mobilize
was a very informative and spiritually nourishing training, and this post only
begins to reveal the valuable components of faith-rooted organizing. Here are a couple of ways to get more
involved:
Sojourners
will be coming out with a new film in October: October 2nd will be
the livestream premiere of the film “Poverty in America,” which highlights
stories of people in poverty across the country. They suggest using this film as an organizing
tool, because nothing is more powerful than stories, and there is no easier way
to tell stories than through film.
(Janee Woods Weber from Everyday Democracy
added that EvDem has study guides on poverty that could complement the film
screening nicely).
Sojourners
also seeks for faith leaders and organizations to join their National
Mobilizing Circle which calls out the budget as a moral document and implores
legislators to treat it as such.
Another
way of recruiting legislators into a relationship and guiding them into
becoming champions for justice is to start with inviting them to “Come and See”
what’s happening in your own community. Tell
them, “before you vote to cut funds, come
and seewhat
exactly you would be cutting.”
Soon, there will be a faith-rooted organizing training in NYC
at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies for organizing around local
policy issues. More details to come!
*In
delving a bit further into messaging for Creation Care with Alycia Ashburn, we
concluded that it’s important to talk about creation care in the context of its
interconnectedness with other issues: i.e. climate justice is hunger
justice. When people do not have basic
necessities such as clean water, wars and spread of infection ensue. Therefore, environmental issues are linked to
national security and are a threat multiplier. In addition, war is costly, and
Republicans care about saving money: former Navy Brigadier General Steve
Anderson saved
the Navy $1 billion by insulating tents. Another costly budget item is healthcare: we
can argue for reducing healthcare costs by investing in clean air, clean water,
and healthy food as preventive measures. But whatever we do we must not pit
social justice issues against each other!
Many Democrats are guilty of this.
The Department of Defense has plenty of
money that can be reallocated to programs which will help protect the poor
and the environment.
Over the past
year or so, I've become familiar with the organization Leave It Better and gotten to
know a few of its incredible team members. Leave It Better is an
organization which empowers youth to heal the environment, primarily by
teaching them gardening and composting skills, as well as filmmaking skills so
they can document their experiences as they learn to grow food. The LIB
team then edits the film clips created by the children and shares them online,
with the ultimate goal of creating a global youth gardening documentary which
will be called "the reGeneration."
Leave It
Better is currently in the tail end of a Kickstarter
campaign to raise money for their reGeneration documentary. They
recently put together a campaign
video where Dominique tells her story of how she developed her passion
for gardening and health. Witnessing the suffering that her father went through
as a consequence of his poor eating habits, she discovered gardening to be a
healthy alternative, a way to take control of one's food choices and therefore
one's health. She embodies what it means to take the challenges that life
throws at us and create positive solutions which grow healthy, empowered
citizens and heal us, our communities, and our environment. But don't
take my word for it - watch
the video yourself :) And consider supporting their efforts to
make the reGeneration film a reality by becoming a backer of their Kickstarter
campaign.
A few years
ago when working with students at MS 331 in the Bronx, the Leave It Better team
members were approached by a teacher in the school with the suggestion that
they should clean up the abandoned park across the street from the school and
make it into a garden. They agreed, going through all of the steps necessary to
register the garden with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation/
GreenThumb, get the community involved, and clean up the garden.
Dominique, who wears the hat of Garden Manager amongst many others, also
took a class at the NY Botanical Garden to become a Master Composter.
Their work with this garden in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx -
which they call the Leave
It Better Kids' Garden - has inspired hope in the community and its
youth. The youth are assigned roles and each have their own garden tasks
and responsibilities, creating a sense of purpose for them in the community
while also providing residents with a tangible solution to the health problems
plaguing many neighborhoods in the Bronx: freshly grown food. There
are garden plots for the youth, the seniors, and even for King of Glory
Tabernacle Church down the road. The entire community, which previously
was just like many others in the Bronx - a "food desert" filled with
very few healthy food options - now has a direct source of fresh, local
produce, as well as a method of empowering kids to create positive change in their
neighborhood. And they've partnered with BronxWorks, a social service
organization, to bring a farmers
market to the neighborhood too, bringing in yet more fresh produce and
employment opportunities for residents who help run the market, which is on
Thursdays this summer by University Ave & West 181st Street in the Bronx.
Leave It
Better team members Graham, Dominique and Roz are doing their part to
"leave it better" by empowering youth in this Bronx community and in
schools citywide to care for the environment, contribute to a sustainable food
system, develop healthy eating habits, and be positive change agents in the
world around them. Now it's our turn to do our part. The
reGeneration Kickstarter campaign has raised over $10,000 so far but still
needs to raise nearly $25,000 by July 14th in order for the campaign to be
funded and any of the pledges to be counted. But now it's up to us - we
must be the change we wish to see in the world. Diet-related diseases cost
billions of dollars a year in medical costs, ruining millions of people's
quality of life and our national budget. But we have the answers, and they lie
in empowering the younger generation to contribute to a sustainable food system
and develop healthy eating habits. We must become the answer to our
prayers. Now is our opportunity to support a worthwhile cause and have
the story of youth gardening be captured in a documentary which can be shared
worldwide for years to come. Consider pledging a donation to the Kickstarter
campaign and passing the word on to your friends, family and
colleagues. Together we can make a difference.
The House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture is at work on its version of the 2012 Food & Farm Bill right now. (The Senate Agriculture Committee passed its version out of committee just a few weeks back). Now is the time to tell the House what we want to see in the Farm Bill!
The House Committee on Agriculture has set up a comment box for constituents to submit their feedback. It’s open to everyone, but comments must be in by this Sunday, May 20.
Below you will find some background information about the Farm Bill as it pertains to health, as well as a sample letter with information about the Farm Bill's effect on nutrition, hunger, support for farmers, and the environment. Sending a message to Congress is important, and it will only take a minute!
The
Farm Bill and Our Health
What
is the Farm Bill?
The Farm Bill originally was set up to help American
farmers. However, over time, most of
the subsidy payments to farmers went to commodity crops instead, with hardly
any money going to support the growing of a variety of fruits and
vegetables.
How
can this affect our health?
The
Farm Bill includes a number of different titles that influence our food system.
Changes made to the Farm Bill over the past several decades have made healthy
food more expensive and unhealthy food cheaper, pushing the price of fruits and vegetables up by nearly 40% over 15
years and pushing the price of soft drinks (made from processed corn) down by
23%.In addition, there is not currently enough farmland in the USdevoted to growing fruits and vegetables
for everyone to meet the US Dietary Guidelines of at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
A growing number of policymakers and
public health professionals understand the relationships among agricultural
policy, our food system and the public’s health, and even succeeded in making
some minor advancements in the 2008 Farm Bill that supported both the public’s
health and farmers. However, today’s
budget challenges now threaten the funding levels and continuation of several
of these achievements. In particular,
the 2008 Farm Bill included a Healthy Food Provisions Package which included
policies and programs supporting public health.
Some of these programs, which successfully help improve access to
healthy food for low-income communities, need to be expanded, not cut. These include:
·Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program - provides
low-income seniors with coupons that can be exchanged for eligible foods
(fruits, vegetables, honey, and fresh-cut herbs) at farmers’ markets, roadside
stands, and community supported agriculture programs
·Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program - makes fruit and
vegetable snacks available at no cost to all children in participating
elementary schools
·Farmers’ Market Electronic Benefits Transfer Program – funds wireless EBT
machines at farmers markets, which enables farmers markets to accept SNAP (food
stamps)
·Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development - provides grants to
help the establishment of businesses that can increase access to healthy,
affordable foods for underserved communities, while creating jobs
·Community Food Projects - addresses food insecurity through developing community food
projects that help promote the self-sufficiency of low-income communities.
Examples include innovative approaches to nutrition education, and support for
farm-to-school programs.
·SNAP Nutrition Education Program (SNAP-Ed) – supports nutrition
education for people eligible for SNAP, but was recently expanded to include
individuals who reside in a community with a significant low-income population.
Allowable nutrition education was recently expanded to include broader
community and public health approaches to improve nutrition.
In
addition, the WIC Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program – which provides women,
infants and children enrolled in WIC with vouchers to use at farmer’s markets –
has traditionally been funded through the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act,
but should be put under the Farm Bill to protect it from cuts in the future.
As the Committee considers the 2012 Food and Farm Bill, I urge you to:
Preserve and expand funding for the Healthy Food Provisions Package which includes policies and programs supporting public health. These programs, which successfully help improve access to healthy food for low-income communities, include: •Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program •Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program •Farmers’ Market Electronic Benefits Transfer Program •Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development •Community Food Projects •SNAP Nutrition Education Program (SNAP-Ed)
Place the WIC Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program under the Farm Bill instead of under Child Nutrition Reauthorization. This program promotes the consumption of produce by women, infants, and children enrolled in the WIC program while successfully creating a base of customers at farmer’s markets in low-income neighborhoods;
Support our fight against hunger by maintaining and strengthening critical nutrition programs in this time of unprecedented need. We must not solve our budget problems on the backs of those experiencing food insecurity, including our most vulnerable – our children, the elderly, and the disabled;
Provide an even "plowing" field by fully funding programs supporting beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, organic farming, regional farming and food economies, and rural development. We need more farmers and ranchers, more sustainable food production, and more economic opportunity in our food system;
End direct payments and counter-cyclical commodity programs, replacing them with loophole-free agriculture risk coverage and implement a cap on crop insurance premium subsidies. We must support farmers that really need the help, not the biggest farms that don’t.
Eliminate the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) livestock set-aside to limit funds granted to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) for waste management infrastructure and protect the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) from disproportionate cuts and improve it by ranking applications solely on their conservation benefits. We must ensure that limited conservation funding maximizes lasting environmental benefits.
