WTF[B]!?: What's the Farm Bill!? (and why it matters)
Food Safety
The National School Lunch Program
Environmental Conservation
S.N.A.P
Farmer Commodity Programs
International Trade
The Agricultural Adjustment Act
These are just a few components of an omnibus, all-encompassing agricultural monster. Renewed every 5 years, it is a diverse series of provisions, laws, policies, and requirements that must be followed to ensure the health and safety of the food system and every individual involved. In other words, this bill—The Farm Bill—is what feeds us.
Currently the 2014 Farm Bill is due to expire on December 31st of 2018. Originally, a new Bill was to be redrafted and submitted on September 30th. However, the House and Senate could not settle their ongoing disputes, leaving the deadline to pass and farmers reliant on loans from various programs stranded . Not only has Trump’s trade war has severely damaged the livelihood of commodity crop (especially soybeans) farmers, but the dairy industry also struggles to respond to retaliatory import charges from foreign countries. As the Farm Bill now approaches its yearend deadline, other farmer programs (farmers’ market promotion, rancher development, food bucks, innovations in urban agriculture, etc) are at risk of termination or severe budget cuts. If that weren’t bad enough, funds vital to the nation’s ongoing nutrition programs are being threatened, which would only augment the crippling cycles of hunger and poverty. In other words, the 2018 Farm Bill does not just affect farmers. It will affect us all.
First of all, what is the Farm Bill?
The first Farm Bill passed in 1933 during the Great Depression. It was mostly concerned with maintaining the financial wellbeing of farmers after crop prices plummeted. It ensured that goods were priced accordingly in the market, keeping farmers paid and citizens fed.
However, the modern age has transformed the Farm Bill into a much more complex and comprehensive piece of legislation; sections include those that address international trade in farm products, the nutritional quality of school lunches, and the management of national forests.
And so this bill connects us all: not only is it an intricate web of intragovernmental relations, but it is also the foundation of how every person eats. Let’s break it down:
In short, the Farm Bill provides support for the most basic human function: eating. From the farm, to the harvest, to packaging, storage, transportation, and purchase, the 2014 Farm Bill has a lot to do. To feed a continually growing population is both a joy and a chore, but most importantly it is a necessity. So what could possibly be taking so long to redraft this Bill?
In the House’s draft, there are two conflicts between the democrats and republicans.
1. Work Requirements for SNAP
2. Programs that support local, sustainable agriculture
As the 2014 Bill states, SNAP eligibility is based on family size as it relates to average income. Should a family be earning less, the government provides a monthly allowance of food stamps to be used at authorized grocery stores to purchase a specific set of goods. In addition, there are both work requirements and also work training programs SNAP users must participate in: for every able-bodied adult (ages 18-50) without a dependent, he or she receives three months of benefits each year. However, if the citizen is employed or participates in a work program for at least 20 hours per week, more benefits are obtained (read more here or here).
The Senate seeks to maintain the labor requirements of the 2014 Bill, but House republicans presented a new proposal on June 21st, 2018. Not only do they want to decrease financial support for the program and widen the age gap to 18-59, but they also seek to increase the time and intensity of work requirements. As a result:
1. It is projected that slashing the budget would cause more than 1 million low-income households (more than 2 million people) to lose their benefits altogether or have them reduced.
2. While it states that $1 billion will be provided each year to fund new work training programs, implementation state-by-state varies drastically. The hope is that 3.4 million people would receive job training by 2021, but for low-income families, offering intense job training in such a short timeframe would be a challenge.
High-quality job preparation requires much more than the typical computer and resume assistance the states currently undertake. Currently, states do not have the resources to reach every family assisted by food stamps, and there are also pre-existing barriers that prevent individuals from finding steady, quality employment. Most SNAP recipients engage in low-skilled, low-paying jobs (cleaning up graffiti, picking up trash, etc). Training does not take long, and those who have been unable receive any formal education are not denied the ability to work. And so, to prepare a potentially illiterate but able-bodied adult for the labor market—find a high-demand job, enroll someone adequate, and teach them the necessary skills—takes time. A lot of time. But House republicans aggressively assert that if states do not offer these programs that also require provisions of child care, drug and alcohol counseling, transportation, and financial incentives by 2021, they will lose their federal funding (read more about this—and also some pilot programs—here).
Nonetheless, some of you reading this may be thinking “Who cares, I don’t need food stamps, these changes won’t affect me”. Which brings me to my next point.
While ¾ of Farm Bill spending prioritizes its nutrition programs, mainstream media does not often bring our attention to the Bill’s other, just as vital components. Do you enjoy hand-selecting produce from your local farmers’ market? What about picking up a CSA share to feed your family? Or maybe even in your local grocery store, you only seek to purchase foods with that coveted “organic” label. Well, all of these things we love cost our farmers a lot of money, and without sustainable funding from our federal government, the momentum pushing our nation’s local agriculture movement will surely cease to exist.
Photo from this piece by Mary Clare Jalonick of The Boston Globe
Between 2008-2018, there has been an 8% decline in the amount of farms in the US. This is because the average age of the US farmer is between 58-60 years old. And while the value of livestock and crops has increased, there soon might not be enough farmers to take advantage of this opportunity.
As a result, The New Farmer and Rancher Development Program is vital to “reigning in” (haha) the next farming generation.
This is where things get political. If you do a little bit of research, you’ll see that most House republicans are from the Midwest. These states contain the largest land areas set aside for immense, industrial commodity crop endeavors; promoting local food movements, providing food bucks at farmers’ markets, aiding socially disadvantaged farmers… It only makes sense that the party is proposing to eliminate mandatory funding for these “minor” programs. Quite simply, both they and their voters may not fully recognize how important local agriculture is to our communities. Just in 2012 alone, consumers purchased $1.4 billion worth of food from local farmers (find more stats here). Thus is it clear we have begun to value the work of our local farmer while the purchase and access to local food deepens one sense of community. However, if the 2018 Farm Bill passes without acknowledging local agriculture’s importance, what does it mean for our “slow food” movement?
1. Without a farmers’ market promotion program, support providing access to direct-to-consumer markets, expansion activities, establishing new partnerships, and assisting the purchases of new equipment will cease.
2. If the food bucks program is eliminated, those participating in SNAP would no longer have the ability to use stamps at local markets, restricting further access to majorly nutritious goods.
3. When farmers can no longer be reimbursed potentially thousands of dollars for obtaining an organic certification, both consumer assurance and also farmer profits will decrease, potentially damaging more intimate farmer-consumer relationships.
But there is a glimmer of hope. In recent months, Senator Debbie Stabenow has reintroduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016, deeming it worthy of its own Title in the 2018 Farm Bill. Not only does this act provide incentives to grow food in cities, but there are great environmental impacts as well. If foods no longer have to travel hundreds of miles to reach their consumers, our population’s carbon footprint should slowly begin to decrease. In other words, not only does this act create stronger, more local, and economically sustainable communities, but it will also improve the health of our planet. Highlights of the act include:
Now that midterms are over, the democrats have taken the House, but the republicans still dominate the Senate. Debates between industrial and local agriculture, the work requirements of the SNAP program, and providing funds that promote sustainable, growing environments in the urban space will be continually debated. If you’ve read up to this point, I thank you.Thank you for taking the time to understand more about our government as it relates to our food system. If this article has spurred something inside of you, I’ve provided more resources below. And while it’s important to deepen your understanding of these complex intragovernmental relations, it is just as important to reach out to your local farmer. If anything, reader, take a trip to a market if you can. Talk to a farmer. Converse with them about the Farm Bill and show them that you care. Ask them what you can do to help, and let them know you support and value everything they do.
Sometimes farming can be a thankless job. It’s not always that romantic idea of “working off the land” we often think of. Thus I believe that if we can take a moment to understand the physical, financial, and legal burdens of providing nutritious, local food to various communities, we can strengthen our own slow food movements, and be that much more hopeful and helpful as we advocate for an equitable and sustainable food future.
FURTHER RESOURCES:
The Young Farmers Podcast: Farm Bill Politics Series (6 episodes)
More about Stabenow’s Urban Agriculture Act
The USDA’s Farmer-Rancher Development Program
From CNBC, More info about The Farm Bill’s expiring programs
Paying for the “Organic Certification”
Slow Food USA. An amazing organization dedicated to improving the strength of local agriculture