America’s Farmers Lose in Fiscal Cliff Deal


Posted by HFHP Coalition
Cross-posted from the Center for Social Inclusion
 
By Anthony Giancatarino, Coordinator of Research & Advocacy

Congress has once again proved that making sausage is a more attractive process to watch than law-making in a gridlocked Congress.  Two days ago, Congress finally reached a partial and time-limited agreement to avert the fiscal cliff.

In the midst of the deal, they pushed thousands of family farmers over the edge, leaving many of us to question our commitment to family farmers and to improving the health of rural and urban residents.

The Farm Bill, which provides grants and loans to farmers for food and energy production, supports fresh foods in schools, and builds our local economies, expired over 3 months ago. Instead of simply renewing the Farm bill, Congress opted for a partial extension that renews nine months of subsidies that favor big agricultural corporations and ignores the needs of the small farmers who are often responsible for our vegetables, fruit and beef.

Congress failed to renew funding for critical programs like specialty crop grants, conservation or outreach to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.  They also failed to provide disaster aid for livestock producers, and fruit and vegetable growers who are not protected by crop insurance and do not receive direct subsidies, unlike the agricultural giants, ConAgra or Monsanto.

Click here for the full post.


Congress Includes Awful 2008 Farm Bill Extension in Fiscal Cliff Deal


Posted by HFHP Coalition
Cross-posted from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

On New Year’s Eve, the Senate passed a simple extension of the 2008 Farm Bill through September 30, 2013, as part of a much bigger legislative package to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.  The House approved the Senate bill late on New Year’s Day and President Obama signed it into law on January 2.

The fiscal cliff deal was the final death knell for the 2012 Farm Bill that the full Senate passed in June and that the House Agriculture Committee passed in July.  The deal was also a very sudden death knell for the reasonable modified farm bill extension measure that NSAC worked diligently to promote over the past several months.

Approval of the simple farm bill extension also means that the new Congress that begins today will have to start the process of reauthorizing a new, full five-year farm bill from scratch.

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Fiscal Cliff Deal Cuts SNAP-Ed, Critical Nutrition Program


Posted by HFHP Coalition
Cross-posted from the Public Health Institute
 
Statement by Matthew Marsom, Vice President for Public Health Policy and Advocacy

“The last-minute political maneuvering by Congress to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff’ has undercut a critical nutrition program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed). The Public Health Institute is extremely disappointed and concerned about the health impacts of this rushed decision on our most vulnerable population, recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.

“The American Taxpayer Relief Act, passed Tuesday by the Senate and House of Representatives and sent to the president for his signature, tacked on an extension of major farm programs through fiscal 2013 in an effort to protect milk pricing. But the enormous down-to-the-wire pressure to prevent tax hikes for the middle class left little room for a substantive discussion of the fine print of the farm bill extension deal. In the process, SNAP-Ed, a federal/state partnership that supports nutrition education for persons eligible for food stamps, was slashed by one-third for 2013. Earlier versions of the Farm Bill had never included or considered cuts to SNAP-Ed, and this last minute cut was never vetted or approved by the Agriculture Committees.

“SNAP-Ed helps low-income Americans make healthy choices on a limited budget, reduces their risk of chronic disease and obesity, and optimizes the economic and nutritional value of SNAP benefits. SNAP-Ed programming has proven that investment in nutrition education can enable SNAP to effectively address the dual challenges of improving nutrition and food security among low-income populations. This funding cut to the program undermines and weakens a critical component of our nationwide efforts to promote healthy eating and prevent chronic disease just as investments to prevent obesity and promote healthy eating are beginning to show results.

“Prior to the fiscal cliff process, a reasonable farm bill package was being negotiated. Though imperfect, it reflected the input of farmers and rural America, anti-hunger advocates and the public health community. As the new Congress faces a reauthorization of the farm bill in September, political pressure and time constraints must not trump common sense and evidence: SNAP-Ed must have full funding restored and protected, ensuring that all Americans, particularly those who are most vulnerable, can make the healthiest decisions when feeding their families.”


USDA Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Seeks Membership Nominations


Posted by HFHP Coalition

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for its Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers. This Committee advises the Secretary of Agriculture on matters broadly affecting new farmers and ranchers–leveraging best practices to enhance Department goals for new farming and ranching operations. The period for submitting nominations has been extended to January 16, 2013.

Click here for more information.


Welcome to L.A.


Posted by HFHP Coalition
Cross-posted from Community Food and Justice Coalition
 
By Erin Middleton

CFJC spent the week before Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, along with the Healthy Farms Healthy Peoples Coalition Coordinator, and had a number of conversations with coalition partners about the food justice movement, particularly in the L.A. region.  A few overarching themes surfaced regarding some of the critical  “whats” and “hows” of attaining food system change that is fair, healthy and sustainable at every point of the food chain – from growing and harvesting to distribution and waste management.

There are many essential issues that need to be addressed in order to transform our food system. A few discussed in LA on this trip were the decriminalization of poverty (criminalization of poverty involves declaring certain acts that are more likely to be committed by poor or homeless people, such as begging and being in public places, a crime.)[1], immigration reform, and carving out healthy space for young eaters.

While in conversation with the Los Angeles Community Action Network and Hunger Action Los Angeles we discussed the widespread false U.S. notion that we should “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps”. But what would you do if you had little or no opportunities? As congress considers deep cuts to SNAP (formerly food stamps) in the 2012 Farm Bill, increasingly more people do not know where their next meal will come from. In California alone an estimated 3.8 million adults — particularly those in households with children as well as low-income Latinos — can’t afford to put adequate food on the table.[2]

Click here to keep reading.


New Report: Healthy Food Incentives Cluster Evaluation 2011


Posted by HFHP Coalition

Cross-posted from Fair Food Network

This report summarizes initial results of a cluster evaluation of four organizations – Fair Food Network, Market Umbrella, Roots of Change, and Wholesome Wave – that offer SNAP incentives at farmers’ markets. The goal of the evaluation is to help inform further investments in SNAP incentives that have the potential to increase access to healthy food for low income consumers, improve the economic viability of farmers, and strengthen local communities.

Click here for the Healthy Incentives Cluster Evaluation 2011.


2012 Farm Bill: Do Agriculture Leaders Have Enough Gas and Road Left to Finish the Job?


Posted by HFHP Coalition
By Gabrielle Serra

For anyone who follows what goes on (or what doesn’t) in Washington, it’s a well-known fact that significant pressure on members to act is a major ingredient for the success of any legislation, regardless of merits. Now, with the number of legislative days quickly waning for the 112th Congress, agriculture leaders are facing internal and external pressures that are driving their recent efforts to finalize a bill, which also gives more shape to the potential fates of a 2012 farm bill.

First, agriculture leaders understand the need to act. They have heard the increasingly concerned calls to action from many constituents in the food and agriculture system, and share those concerns. After the 2008 farm bill was allowed to expire on October 1, without current authority, agriculture programs are set to revert back to permanent law which includes a portfolio of outdated and impractical commodity pricing and subsidy programs. The fact that the farm bill was allowed to expire was never because any of the agriculture leaders thought this was in itself a good idea, but rather that it could lead to significant and necessary pressure on congress to act and achieve a bicameral compromise before any real consequences are realized. That time is quickly approaching. With the expired dairy provisions, consumers would start to see a spike in milk prices in the new year. This is important. While only a fraction of legislators include agriculture as a major priority for their legislative decisions, every legislator cares about the price for a gallon of milk just as they care about the prices their constituents are paying for a gallon of gas.

Whether pressure from within the agriculture community is enough to drive action is yet to be seen. Sharp disagreements remain. Most significantly, the House and Senate maintain opposing priorities for what a modern commodity title should include. The House put forward a Price Loss Coverage program that would trigger payments to farmers when market prices fall below target levels. The Senate rejected this proposal in favor of a program that would compensate growers for part of their revenue insurance deductibles. Recently, agriculture leaders, who historically enjoy one of the more consistently amicable bipartisan relationships in Congress, have each indicated their willingness to compromise to reach agreement on commodity programs.

As the week comes to a close, both sides have dug in their heels on what an acceptable compromise on the commodity title must look like. One could assume that such strong positioning is necessary to allow each side to staunchly defend their bargaining positions in order to claim major concessions from the other chamber as negotiations proceed. While this may all just be necessary gamesmanship and standard politicking, time is running short for leaders to engage in such a slow-dance for long.

What’s more is that the commodity title isn’t the only challenge to be addressed. Agriculture leaders need a spending target on the bill from the White House and House GOP leadership in order to resolve the wide differences on cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This is not likely to be concluded any time soon. The spending target for a new farm bill, including the scope and scale of SNAP cuts, is expected to be decided at the highest levels. Agriculture leaders can’t expect a spending target until the broader fiscal cliff negotiations develop further and even then, they might still be waiting.

To date, there hasn’t even been a commitment from the White House or House leadership that a farm bill would be included as part of any agreement. Further, it is yet impossible to know whether there will even be a fiscal cliff agreement before the end of this congress that a farm bill could be attached to.

No doubt, the farm bill is not a driving priority of the fiscal cliff negotiations, but the potential savings from agriculture will continue to be attractive to negotiators to include as part of any agreement. If a fiscal cliff agreement of some sort is reached, and a new farm bill is ready that could pass both chambers, it’s increasingly likely that the farm bill would get a ride. That said, there is concern that a fiscal cliff agreement could include reductions in spending to agriculture, such as the widely popular elimination of direct payments (worth $49 billion over the next decade), with or without a new farm bill.

The potential for the White House and House leadership to include spending cuts to agriculture as part of any fiscal cliff agreement, regardless of whether a new farm bill is ready, is the second driving pressure for agriculture leaders to reach an agreement on a package. Taking savings from farm programs without also advancing a comprehensive new farm bill would compromise agriculture leaders’ ability to use part of this savings to implement a new farm program infrastructure, regardless of whether it looks like the senate or house proposals. This outcome would be extremely unpopular among the agriculture community.

With such significant differences between the House and the Senate on what a new farm bill should include, and no guarantee that there’s a future for a new farm bill this year, it’s not expected that a compromise will be reached before the last possible moment.

So now, with three weeks and counting until the next congress is gaveled in, the questions on HFHP’s mind are whether agriculture leaders have enough leverage and enough time to find a path forward for a 2012 farm bill. And then, of course, we must ask ourselves whether that would be the farm bill that our food and agriculture system needs and that our HFHP community can support.


The Farm Bill and the Fiscal Cliff


Posted by HFHP Coalition
By Gabrielle Serra

While the clock ticks toward the end of the 112th Congress, fiscal cliff negotiations are taking up all the oxygen and political capital in Washington. The president and Speaker Boehner bear the lion’s share of burden in averting consequences to our economic recovery that would occur if the significant fiscal contractions scheduled to take place in the coming weeks are not addressed. While both parties continue to try to position themselves so as to claim major concessions from the other side as a tradeoff for any compromise, the possibility of a deal remains possible, yet murky, and anything but certain. While Healthy Farms Healthy People is as concerned as anyone about what’s at stake from the fiscal cliff, and any alternative agreement, we are especially concerned about what these negotiations mean for the fate of the farm bill.

It has become increasingly clear that the House has neither the time nor political will to move a farm bill under regular order. The future for the farm bill now rests on whether reauthorization can be attached to another must-pass legislative vehicle before the end of the year. And by reauthorization, we mean either a five-year new comprehensive bill or an extension of the 2008 farm bill.

HFHP was encouraged this week when agriculture leaders had a green light to negotiate policy differences between the respective bills passed off the Senate floor and reported out of the House Agriculture Committee this past summer. For those like us looking for any sign to suggest that the wheels of democracy are in motion, agriculture leaders made public statements to the effect that they are fully invested in successfully negotiating a new 5 year farm bill and they are currently not negotiating parameters for an extension of the 2008 bill. Each of the four agriculture leaders have suggested a willingness to bend a little on each of their signature issues, including Title I (Commodity Programs) and Title IV (Nutrition Programs), which continue to be the big elephants in the room. There is real optimism that a compromise is attainable.

While agriculture leaders express confidence that they can achieve an agreement on the outstanding issues in the commodity title, the partisan divide over cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is no closer to being resolved. With the highly charged nature of the SNAP cut debate, the reality that neither the House nor Senate could pass a bill that reflects the amount of cuts proposed by the other chamber, and a recognition that legislative action of some kind is needed to enact a farm bill before the end of the year to avoid reverting back to 1940’s farm policy, the scope and scale of cuts to SNAP are to be decided at the highest level.

If the president and the speaker are able to reach a compromise on SNAP cuts that would be amendable to both chambers, it is increasingly likely that a new farm bill could be finalized and attached to any fiscal package that moves before the end of the year. While there is no easy path ahead, moving a new comprehensive farm bill continues to be politically more attractive than extending the 2008 bill because of the significant savings, ranging from $23 to $35 billion, that a new farm bill could contribute to offset the cost of a larger fiscal cliff agreement.

To be sure, however, the possibility of an extension of the 2008 farm bill into 2013 remains a plausible option that may be necessary if fiscal cliff negotiations fail.

No doubt, there is substantive and political work that has yet to be done in order to ensure a desirable new farm bill is achievable this year. And, the devil remains in the details. With negotiations ongoing, it’s not certain whether an outcome will be reached that HFHP and our colleagues will consider to be better than an extension, particularly among the nutrition, conservation, rural development, and food systems communities which have a lot at stake in either option. We are limited by an imperfect crystal ball in making our predictions as to whether 2013 may provide a better or worse environment for policy and program priorities, and there, as always, are differing views on the impact (or opportunities) of starting over again in the new year.

Healthy Farms Healthy People will continue to monitor the state of the negotiations and any farm bill developments in Washington. We continue to encourage agriculture leaders, congress and the White House to advance a new farm bill that is a good deal for the American people, that promotes a healthy, safe, and just food and farming system, and encourages vibrant rural communities.

Stay tuned, and stay hopeful.


National Call-In Day to Urge Congress to Protect Anti-Hunger Programs


Posted by HFHP Coalition
By Gabrielle Serra

The federal nutrition programs are widely accepted and valued for providing assistance to millions of vulnerable families including women, children, and seniors that promote health and protect from poverty. With negotiations underway to try to avoid the fiscal cliff, however, congress and the administration have put virtually everything on the table, including cuts to entitlement programs, like SNAP, and other critical discretionary programs, like WIC.

On Wednesday, November 28, Feeding America is hosting a national call-in day to urge Congress to reject cuts to federal nutrition  and anti-hunger benefits as part of any deal on the fiscal cliff. For more information about how to participate, click here. Feeding America provides a toll-free number and suggested message points.

Now is the time to stand up for those who rely on the federal nutrition programs to feed their families and make ends meet by calling on congress to pursue a balanced approach that protects the most vulnerable among us from harm.

By marking your calendars for Wednesday, November 28, and by carving out just a few minutes of your time, you can make a big difference.


HFHP Calls on Congress to Enact a Comprehensive New Farm Bill


Posted by HFHP Coalition
By Gabrielle Serra

Last week, the Healthy Farms Healthy People Coalition sent House and Senate Leadership a letter calling on congress to enact a comprehensive new farm bill before the end of the year. HFHP calls for a modern farm bill that protects children and families from hunger, promotes human and environmental health and sustainable farm land stewardship, enables community-driven food projects, and supports rural economic development. While HFHP did not endorse either the House or Senate farm bills in their entirety, we took this opportunity to urge congress to take action before the end of this session to advance legislation that will meet the diverse needs of the nation’s food and agriculture system, including the critical role of the food and agriculture sector for promoting and protecting human health. Please take a look, and feel welcome to use this letter as a template for your own letter to congress. If you have any questions, send us an email at info@hfhpcoalition.org.