U.S. Farm Bill
The Farm Bill is about more than farms.
It encompasses the whole
food system, impacting how our food is grown, where it is grown,
who grows it, how it is distributed, and who can afford it.
Indeed, many advocates argue that the legislation should more
appropriately be called the Food Bill. Legislation with such
far-reaching implications for something as personal as the food
we eat is relevant to all of us.
The Farm Bill is scheduled to be reauthorized in 2007. The Bill
establishes policies and funding for food access, conservation,
farming, rural development, agricultural markets, regional food
infrastructure, research, trade, and more. The Farm Bill
reauthorization process happens about every five years, and is
one of the most important opportunities to develop policies to
support strong local and regional food systems.
WHY's Farm Bill Involvement
WHY is a participant in the
Farm and Food Policy
Project (FFPP), a broad coalition of family farm, sustainable
agriculture, public health, anti-hunger, and other groups working
toward a just farm and food policy in the 2007 Farm Bill. The FFPP
has developed a policy statement entitled Seeking
Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy.
The impacts of the Farm Bill extend far beyond US borders. Its language affects the prices that farmers receive for
their crops and the ability of families to feed themselves around the
world. WHY is part of the Building
Sustainable Futures for Farmers Globally Campaign, which
promotes Farm Bill reform supporting the livelihoods of family
farmers and farmworkers and the health of communities in the US and
around the world.
The following selection of Farm Bill links and
resources will provide you with background, policy proposals,
perspectives, and ways to get involved with this critical
legislation.
Farm Bill Basics
Farm Bill 101: Inquiry, Impact & Action (PPT)
A PowerPoint presentation giving an overview of the Farm Bill and
the programs that it encompasses. Prepared by Fern Gale Estrow,
MS, RD, CDN, for Inquiry, Impact, and Action: The 2007 Farm
Bill, New York City, 1/25/07.
Farm
Bill 101: A Quick and Easy Guide to Understanding the Farm
Bill (PDF)
Oxfam America’s guide to the Farm Bill.
Farm Bill 101
Food and Water Watch provides a brief history of U.S.
agricultural policy, bringing us to the current state of the Farm
Bill and commodity policies.
Farm Bill
Primer
A resource of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the
Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group that provides
helpful links and background information, including how farm
legislation become law.
Farm Bill Primer Blog
A compilation of links and multimedia resources related to the
Farm Bill.
Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill, Daniel Imhoff, Watershed Media, 2007.
Offers a concise, visually-dynamic overview of the Farm Bill. (A shorter piece, Food Fight: The 2007 Farm Bill is available online through the Center for Ecoliteracy.)
Glossary Of Agricultural Policy Terms
This glossary was prepared by the Economic Research Service of the USDA.
U.S.
Farm Bill 2007
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s
supplemental issue on the 2007 Farm Bill, providing background,
news, and analysis. Visitors can sign up for IATP’s Farm
Bill News list-serve.
What's in a
Farm Bill
The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture's educational
outline of the Farm Bill with links providing descriptions of the
various programs included in the omnibus legislation.
Policy Platforms/Campaigns
Building
Sustainable Futures Campaign
A campaign aimed at expanding the public debate and changing public policy on trade and agriculture.
Fairness in the Fields (PDF)
Oxfam America's comprehensive report that provides background
information, a myth/fact discussion of commonly held beliefs
regarding farm subsidies and the Farm Bill, as well as policy
recommendations.
Farm and Food
Policy Project
A broad coalition of family farm, sustainable agriculture, public health,
anti-hunger, and other groups working toward a just farm and food policy
in the 2007 Farm Bill.
Food From
Family Farms Act
National Family Farm Coalition's proposal providing the basis for a healthy family farm
system that produces good food for all people, a fair price for
family farmers, and thriving rural communities.
Green
Ribbon Farm Bill Campaign
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference’s campaign providing a vision for farm and food policy
based on community justice and environmental care.
Healthy
Farms, Healthy Food Campaign
Environmental Defense’s platform, including
“A Dozen Fresh Ideas” to help farmers, consumer, and
the environment.
National
Anti-Hunger Organization’s Statement on the 2007 Farm Bill
Reauthorization (PDF)
Recommendations for reform of the Nutrition Title of the Farm
Bill.
National Campaign 2007 Farm Bill Priorities
Farm Bill priorities that support healthy rural communities from The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.
A Northeast
Farm Bill Agenda: Priorities for the 2007 Farm Bill (PDF)
Proceedings from A Commitment to Place: Northeast Regional Policy Summit, November 9-10, 2006.
Policy priorities and why they are important to the northeast.
The
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s Farm Bill
Platform
Includes the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s “Top
10 Farm Bill Priorities.”
USDA 2007 Farm Bill Proposals
The USDA’s Farm Bill site includes regional Farm Bill
Forum transcripts, comments submitted by the public,
theme papers, and USDA analysis papers.
Perspectives & Analysis
The 2007
Farm - and Food - Bill, Tom Philpott, Food First
Backgrounder 12(3), Fall 2006.
The 2007 Farm Bill – What We Need and
Why, George Naylor, National Family
Farm Coalition, Reprinted
with permission of the Sound Consumer, a publication of a PCC
Natural Markets in Seattle, April 2007.
Addressing Domestic and International Farm
Problems (PPT), Daryll Ray, Agricultural
Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, February 11,
2004.
Amber Fields
of Bland, Dan Barber, New York Times,
January 14, 2007.
American
Corn Growers Association Testimony before the House Agriculture
Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk
Management, Larry Mitchell, March 28, 2007.
Farm Bill a Growing Concern, Jennifer Wilkins, Times Union, 2/4/2007.
The Farm Bill: Food Policy in an Era of Corporate Power, Food and Water Watch, April 2007.
Farm Bill Issues: ERS Research and Analysis, USDA Economic Research Service, May 1, 2007.
The Farm Bill and Your Health, Food and Water
Watch, March 2007.
Farm Bill Series, Grist Magazine, Tom Philpott:
Fat Food Nation: How Farm
Policy Affects Our Health, Daniel Imhoff, San Jose Mercury News, May 20, 2007.
It's Not Your Father's Farm Bill, Holly Lahd, The Minnesota Daily, May 3, 2007.
Making the Connections: An Interfaith Perspective
on U.S. Farm Policy and Trade (PDF), David Pedulla, Emerson National Hunger Fellow, Presbyterian Huger Program and Center of Concern,
August 2005. (Related study guides and additional resources are available at
betterfarmbill.org).
Rethinking School Lunch, Amy Dillard & Lisa Holmes, The San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 2007.
Rethinking US Agricultural Policy: Changing Course to
Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide, Daryll E. Ray, Daniel G. De La
Torre Ugarte, and Kelly J. Tiller, Agricultural Policy Analysis
Center, University of Tennessee, September 2003.
Take Action: Support a Better Farm Bill,
Willie Nelson, Mother Earth News, June/July 2007.
Toward a Global Food and Agricultural Policy,
(PDF), Tracey Bruckner, Michael Duffy, Neil E. Harl, Paul W.
Johnson, Fred Kirschenmann, Daryll Ray, and Mark Ritchie, Leopold
Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University,
January 2005.
Understanding the Farm Bill,
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,
4-part series:
Voting
Beyond Our Forks, Christopher D. Cook, Common Ground,
February 2007.
What
does the 2007 U.S. [Food and] Farm Bill have to do with Public Health? (PDF),
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, PublicAction.org, April 2007.
What would
be in your ideal farm bill in 2007? (PDF), Ken Meter,
Crossroads Resource Center, March 13, 2006.
Why Should Planners Care about the Farm Bill?, Lisa Feldstein, The Planning and Development Network, March 28, 2007.
Women's Voices
in the Farm Bill: Broadening Perspectives in Agriculture
Policy (PDF), Cassi Johnson, Women, Food & Agriculture
Network, Report to the Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture, June 2006.
You Are What
You Grow, Michael Pollan, New York Times, April 22,
2007.
Multimedia Resources
Food Fight: A Teach-in on the 2007 Farm Bill
A webcast of a UC Berkeley event from March 21, 2007 featuring
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Dan
Imhoff, author of Food Fight: A Citizen's Guide to the Farm
Bill; George Naylor, president of the National Family Farms
Coalition; Ann Cooper, Director of Nutrition Services for the
Berkeley school system, and others.
Reform the 2007 Farm Bill
Oxfam's newest multimedia piece speaking about the negative effects of US agricultural dumping on the world’s small farmers, particularly in the Global South.
Community Food
Security Coalition's Farm Bill talks on YouTube
Videos of talks by food
security experts from the Cafeterias to Capitol Hill conference
held in Baltimore, MD, in March 2007.
Resources for Action
To keep up with the latest Farm Bill News, visit News & Alerts regularly.
Be a Farm Bill Hero
You will receive weekly email reports and timely action alerts that track the National Campaign For Sustainable
Agricultures' Farm Bill priorities. Read Ag Matters and learn how to get involved in the campaign to reform food and farm policy.
Sign up online today at: agmatters.org/farmbillhero
Community
Food Security Coalition’s Federal Policy Advocacy
Handbook (PDF)
Overview of the lifecycle of federal policy
pieces and suggestions for ways to engage as an activist in the
policy process. Newly updated for the 2007 Farm Bill!
Farm and Food Bill 2007 Action Guide
Om Organics features information to help you decide what you can do for the Farm Bill.
FRAC
2007 Farm Bill Food Stamp Reauthorization Center
Background, action alerts, updates, and sign-on letters on
the nutrition title. Also, House
and Senate Key Committee Contact Lists.
Sustainable
Agriculture Coalition’s Farm Bill Action Center
Action alerts and legislative
tracking, background materials, and more.
***The Food Security Learning Center contains additional resources for action around the Farm Bill in many
Policy & Advocacy sections of individual topics
(e.g., Farm to Cafeteria).***
Updated 11/2007
