• Agriculture contributes immensely our quality of life.
• The Farm Bill can either help or hinder our producers.

Congress is moving forward with the Farm Bill. The time to act is now — reach out to your representatives and let them know your priorities.

Read on for Commissioner Hooker’s comments.

COMMISSIONER OUTLINES NY�??S FEDERAL FARM BILL PRIORITIES

Touts Various Provisions For Upcoming Farm Bill That Will Benefit All NYers

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker today announced the Department�??s farm bill priorities after meeting with Congressional members in Washington D.C. yesterday. Addressing issues such as dairy price stability, renewable energy, conservation and specialty crop assistance, the Commissioner emphasized the important role the farm bill will have in securing a viable future for New York agriculture.

�??Earlier this year, Governor Spitzer highlighted reauthorization of the federal farm bill as one of the top items on his federal agenda,�?? the Commissioner said, �??and we cannot underestimate the impact that federal farm policies will have on our agricultural industry.�??

�??Agriculture occupies a quarter of the State�??s land area and contributes immensely to our quality of life by generating economic activity, supporting jobs, and producing wholesome products to nourish our families. Federal farm policies can either seriously help or hinder our producers, and therefore I will be advocating for numerous provisions in the upcoming farm bill, including issues related to energy, nutrition, commodity support and conservation.�??

The Commissioner was in Washington D.C. yesterday with his state counterparts from the Department of Environmental Conservation and Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to discuss all of the various titles of the farm bill, in addition to other issues facing New York State. Following is a list of provisions that the Department will advocate to be included in the next farm bill.

1. Establish a safety net for dairy prices �?? by either extending the existing Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program and expanding its cap to 4.8 million pounds, or by establishing a floor price of $15.58 per hundredweight for fluid milk, benefiting dairy farmers throughout the Northeast.

2. Enhance conservation programs �?? by increasing funding and improving programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, making them more advantageous for New York�??s farmers and land owners.

3. Increase support for specialty crops �?? through increased funding for block grants, technical assistance that addresses trade barriers, research to advance plant breeding genetics and the Market Access Program.

4. Create renewable energy opportunities �?? addressing both the supply and demand sides of the energy equation, increasing the renewable fuels standard, creating incentives for cellulosic ethanol production and biofuel feedstock production, and increased funding for biofuels research and development.

5. Improve nutrition programs �?? by ensuring that New York receives its fair share of the benefits provided by the Food Stamp Program and Senior Farmers�?? Market Nutrition Program, as well as expanding our schools�?? ability to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program.

6. Increase funding for organics �?? to allow for research and data collection at the national level that will assist in adequately implementing crop insurance and other production oriented programs.

7. Create a separate forestry title �?? that will provide technical, educational and outreach assistance to private forest landowners through existing efforts like the Forest Stewardship Program.

The farm bill is an omnibus multi-year authorizing law for major food and farm programs on the federal level. The current farm bill, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, will expire in 2007, necessitating Congress to reauthorize it.

New York agriculture encompasses 25 percent of the State�??s landscape and generated $3.6 billion for our economy last year. Currently, New York State has 7.5 million acres of farmland with 35,000 farms.

�??Ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to safe, fresh and nutritious food is a top priority that the Council on Food Policy will be addressing head-on,�?? said Governor Spitzer. �??The Council will bring the public, producers and government together to explore ways in which we can improve our existing food production and delivery systems, expand capacity, and in particular, address the critical needs of children and low-income New Yorkers. Additionally, by expanding the sale of locally grown products, we can help struggling farmers, and expand the local agriculture and state economy.�??

Read the full press release here.

Download a copy of the executive order here.

The healthy foods sections of these bills work to increase the availability and affordability of healthy and fresh foods through existing nutrition programs, increasing fruits and vegetables in schools, promoting urban agriculture, removing barriers that have kept local farmers from selling products to schools, and supporting value-added agriculture and farmers markets.

Your voice is critical �?? here are a few simple things to do before June 4:

1. Call or visit your members�?? district office during the week of Memorial Day, when legislators will be in their home state or district. Your legislators have a voice! Ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 2364 and endorse the healthy food provisions of S. 1432 and to tell the Agriculture Committee to include the healthy foods provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill.

2. Ask your Senators to sign on to the attached Feingold-Brown Dear Colleague letter, the deadline for sign-on is May 29th. There may be a House equivalent coming soon, so keep your eye out for that!

3. Write an op-ed or a letter to the editor for your local paper. We have attached a sample of each, and you can tailor it as you want. Media on healthy food issues is also great to take to your legislators�?? offices when you visit.

To obtain the direct number for your representative, call the US Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. For more information, call Steph Larsen at 202-543-8602 or email at steph@foodsecurity.org . For more details, see www.foodsecurity.org/policy.

Specific talking points include:
1. Call for reauthorization of mandatory annual funding in the amount of $30 million dollars for assistance to Community Food Projects.
2. Call for strengthening of local food purchase in Child Nutrition Programs, including reference to �??encourage geographic preferences�?? for local or regional food procurement (no cost but high impact).
3. Call for support of the �??Healthy Food Enterprise Development Act�?? in the Blumenauer Bill ($35 million in HR 2364) for your representatives in the US House of Representatives and in the Brown/Clinton Bill ($42 million in S 1432) in the US Senate.

Find out more. Summaries of these bills are attached for download.

FOOD for a Healthy America Act

Local Food and Farm Support Act Summary

Feingold-Brown Dear Colleague Letter

Step One: A Farm Bill that makes these programs available to farmers. In the recent past, with limited funding available, few of NYC’s watershed farmers have been able to participate in these programs.  We want a Farm Bill that fully funds good stewardship in our critical watersheds.

The goal is to enable local and regional producers to bring healthy foods into underserved and institutional markets.  Helping to grow a vibrant NYC Wholesale Farmers Market is just one way we could use new Farm Bill funding for infrastructure. All of the following could support urban-rural co-development in the region:

• Seed funding for feasibility grants and to cost out new short distance supply chains, and a “cost -plus” approach to bidding systems — to include health, energy conservation, and other values in addition to commodity prices.
• Direct loans and loan guarantees to support investments in distribution systems including information and transport technology, processing and marketing assistance.
• Technical assistance, outreach and support to bring small, limited resource and minority farmers to school, hospital, wholesale and retail markets.

The Domestic Marketing Assistance Act, requesting $45 million for these purposes, would be a low cost, high impact investment, leveraging $300 million a year in private dollars, a 1-6 multiplier effect.  Keep your eyes peeled for the marker bill soon to be submitted by Congressman Blumenauer of Portland, OR: that marker bill has pegged $60 million for a Domestic Marketing Assistance program.

�??In the long-term, the Girls Club will help lower the incidence of obesity, decrease the likelihood that girls will develop Type II diabetes, and diminish the chances that girls will develop cardiovascular disease as they become adults.�??

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group

Community Food Security Coalition

Environmental Defense

Farm and Food Policy Project

USDA Farm Bill News

Food Research and Action Center

National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture

Food Fight: Citizens Guide to a Food and Farm Bill

Om Organic Farm and Food Bill 2007 Action Guide

YouTube LinkLink

In this clip, Peter discusses how in some instances Farm Bill reforms consists of encouraging Congress to implement what has already been passed into law. A prime example: letting public schools buy fresh food from local farmers (fast forward to the 2:00 mark for that example).

You can see a number of additional clips at the Community Food Security Coalition’s YouTube page.

By enabling federal nutrition program beneficiaries to purchase food at local farmers markets and other retail food outlets, the Farm Bill can enable more New Yorkers to consume fresh, healthy fruit and vegetables.

The Farm and Food Policy Project published Seeking Balance, a set of Farm Bill recommendations, in January of this year. 

Over the next few months, representatives in Congress will put forth various Farm Bill reforms. As these proposals, known as marker bills, emerge, New Yorkers should let their representatives know which ones they support. The more cosponsors a bill has, the more likely it is to get incorporated into the final legislation.

If you have the time, you can dive into the comprehensive action guide Om Organics has put together.