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The 2012 Food & Farm Bill: Determining the What we Grow and Eat for the Next Five Years.
Posted on Fri, May 18, 2012 by Slow Food USA
5 Comments | Categories: Food Justice, News, Current Events, Take Action,
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If you could radically change the food we grow and eat in this country, would you? Would you ensure all children, elders, and adults had enough nutritious food to eat? Would you make it easier for young people, women, and folks of color to start their own small farms? Would you stop funding the devastating mess created by factory farming?
Well, you can.
The Food and Farm Bill is the single biggest piece of legislation that governs what we grow and eat in this country and how it is distributed. The Bill touches every single person’s life in this country. Every farmer, parent, cook, eater, student, activist—every single person in this country is impacted by the policies enshrined in the Bill and we only one chance every five years to influence it.
Both chambers of Congress are drafting their own versions of a new Bill. The Senate is has a solid draft that is awaiting a floor vote but the House is still gathering feedback from producers and consumers before they sit down to write their version. They are taking comments until this Sunday, May 20th.
Industrial agriculture lobbyists aren’t the only ones with food and farming priorities. We have them too, and we want Congress to know what they are. Maybe when they are locked away in a windowless conference room with styrofoam take-out containers from fast food chains, they will consider the needs of the father worried about what his son is eating in the school cafeteria or the woman who wants to convert her farm to organic.
Submit your comment to the House by Sunday and make sure that our movement is present in that conference room when they finally draft a new version of the Food and Farm Bill. Write your own message or copy and past ours below. The future of food and farming depends on it:
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As the committee considers the 2012 Food and Farm Bill, I urge you to:
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To learn more, please visit the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s blog.
Member Comments
From Eva Englert on Fri, May 18, 2012
Local, sustainable food systems are the most effective, most wholesome ways to create a more socially and environmentally conscious future for ourselves, children, and grandchildren. Furthermore, adequate nutrition programs are essential to re-shaping the health of our society.
From Autumn Quigley on Fri, May 18, 2012
I live in an area with very low food security despite it’s rural location. However with adequate funding and programs this region would reap not only the benefits of being more secure in the case of a disaster that closed major freeways, but financially more secure, and more health secure for all. Please consider your small farmers, backyard gardners and those who help promote food security through permaculture, organic and environmentally sustainable harvests, and heirloom varieties.
From Beth on Sat, May 19, 2012
Please make the wise choice and support a farm bill that helps build local food systems. We can’t keep doing things the way we have been. Everyone is saying it these days for one simple reason: it’s true. We can’t keep stripping the world of natural resources and living at a breakneck pace. It isn’t healthy for the planet, our economy, our society, or our selves.
Food is where everything begins. Without it, we cannot function. We can do okay without cell phones, the internet, public transportation, TVs, soda pop, but not without real food that nourishes. It is where everything begins. If for no other reason, we should invest in a healthy, sustainable food system so that America can once again be the great nation we hold in our minds. That won’t happen if our children are overweight sugar zombies, or so hungry that they can’t think in class. We need good, nutritious food to be the norm, and not the exception. We need to ensure that we can continue to feed ourselves, even if the unthinkable (insert your own nightmare here) happens.
Food is at the root of so many issues we are currently facing. Food is the glue that holds families, communities, and economies together. Food is the heart of the matter. Support Farm Bill funding that invests in the future, instead of propping up the past. It’s time for us all to eat better, grow better, and thrive.
From SHERRY on Wed, May 23, 2012
NO ONE IS SAFE FROM GMO FOODS WE MUST STOP THE INSANITY NOW
OR EACH AND EVERYONE OF US WILL SURELY PAY THE HIGH PRICE OF CONSUMING THIS CRAP FOOD… IS IT WORTH IT? ASK YOURSELF, IS IT WORTH THE POOR HEALTH OUR CHILDREN WILL SUFFER???
I THINK NOT, AND SHAME ON WHO EVER TAKES A PAY OFF TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY…....IT WILL MAKE YOU PAY IN THE END…
From Charles Minguez on Wed, May 23, 2012
Everyone has the right to healthy food and what better way to get that food then by supporting small local farms with sustainable practices or by starting your own farm. Healthy food is the foundation for strong communities and strong micro-economies!
