At Civic Eats, Paula Crossfield writes in A New Vision for the 2012 Farm Bill:
This week, the House Agriculture Committee held the first hearing on the 2012 Farm Bill, the main piece of legislation that every five years establishes our nations food and agriculture policy. The Farm Bill affects farm payments, supplemental nutrition assistance programs (SNAP, formally called food stamps), international trade, conservation programs, the opportunities in rural communities, agriculture research, food safety, and more. Currently 70% of farm payments go to the wealthiest 10% of producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice. These kinds of oversights are the result of a Farm Bill that has been largely cobbled together over time.
But it seems the agriculture committee is gearing up for a more serious overhaul this time around. Peterson said that he called the Farm Bill hearing Wednesday in order to get a head start on the process, saying “I think it will be very difficult to pass a status-quo farm bill in 2012.” As the Environmental Working Group pointed out, Peterson has said that all options will be “on the table” for the planning of this Farm Bill.
Crossfield notes Congressman Walz's work on beginning farmers in the last bill:
"We had several first-year Congress members step up and champion issues like beginning farmers and organic agriculture, folks such as Rep Tim Walz (D-MN) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY),” who was a Representative when the 2008 Farm Bill was written.
In the meantime, the Ag Committee is looking at other issues; yesterday, it conducted hearings on "proposals to establish exchanges trading '"movie futures.'"
Photo: House Agriculture Chair Collin Peterson (right).
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