Just Food Conversation on Ecclesio.com

This week, OPW's Leslie Woods has been guest hosting a conversation on just food and farm policy on ecclesio.com.  Check out her post and one from Bread for the World colleague, Christine Meléndez Ashley.

What happened to the Farm Bill? The State of the National Debate Around Food Justice

by Leslie G. Woods

... Indeed, the meta-narrative around our nation’s food and farm policy has changed completely in one Farm Bill cycle.  Last time, in the debate around the 2007 Farm Bill, the PC(USA) joined with ecumenical partners to call for an end to trade-distorting subsidies and for investments in nutrition and conservation.  Today, in the 2012 Farm Bill debate (2012 because the current Farm Bill actually expired in 2012), we are still advocating for just food systems and investments in food aid, conservation, and rural development, but it is in the context of a Senate that voted to cut Food Stamps by $4 billion and House of Representatives that has introduced a bill to cut $40 billion from the same program.  What happened?   Read More

The Anti-Hunger Bill

by Christine Meléndez Ashley

When one hears about the farm bill, images of idyllic farm land, tractors, red barns, and silos likely come to mind. In reality, the policy embodied in the farm bill reaches far beyond the farm. This vital piece of legislation affects our entire food system, from what is grown in fields to whether or not families are able to put food on the table. Just as apt a title for the bill would be the “anti-hunger bill”… Read More

House Proposes Devastating Cuts to SNAP, Nutrition programs

On August 1st, despite your protests to keep Nutrition in the Farm Bill and to protect SNAP from cuts, and after failing to pass a bill that cut $20 billion from SNAP, the House of Representatives doubled the malice by introducing a SNAP bill with $40 billion in cuts to the most effective anti-hunger program at the federal level (SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program). With these $40 billion in cuts, the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness strongly opposed this legislation.  This will leave many people hungry, with nowhere left to turn but to already overstressed food pantries and soup kitchens. This legislation is expected to come up for a vote in early September when the House returns to Washington from its August recess.  Join us in resolutely opposing these cuts to nutrition programs.

According to Bread for the World, “the previous proposal of cutting $20 billion from SNAP is equivalent to eliminating half of all the charitable food distribution by churches and food banks over a 10-year period. The legislation that is currently under discussion would double that, substantially increasing the suffering of 47 million Americans who depend on SNAP to keep hunger at bay.” The earlier proposed $20 billion SNAP cut would drop at least 2 million people from the program, reduce benefits for more than800,000 families, and leave 210,000 children without access to free schoolmeals. Cuts to food aid programs not only cost lives and health but they also hinder our collective and common strength to reach millions of people in need. These cuts must not pass the House of Representatives.

As the Farm Bill continues through the conference committee process, where Senate and House members will come together to hammer out a compromise bill, it is extremely important that they continue to hear from you, their constituents, urging them to support a better Farm Bill.  As Presbyterians, we support amendments that will increase access to healthy food for all people, focus on proper stewardship of the environment, build up and support rural communities, and limit crop subsidies to agribusiness.

Click here to send a message to your your Representative and ask him/her to support a faithful Farm Bill

 Keep Advocating!

Thanks for your continuing advocacy for a better Farm Bill, and to prevent cuts to SNAP.  As this bill advances, it will probably go to a conference committee with the Senate, where disagreements, in theory, will be reconciled.  The House and Senate differences over SNAP funding will be a key part of the discussion.  The conference committee will then report out the compromise bill and send it back to both House and Senate for another vote. The future of the Farm Bill in the House of Representatives is unclear. However, what is clear is that we must continue to push for a Farm Bill ensures access to food for hungry people, provides an ample safety net targeted to those small and mid-sized farmers who most need it, builds up rural communities and their economies, and protects the integrity of God’s creation through robust conservation programs and sustainable agriculture. 

For more information on the Farm Bill and PC(USA) advocacy, please visit our Farm Bill blog posts. 

Oppose House Reconciliation Bill

From a blog post by Bread for the World:

Tell Your Representative to Vote NO on the House Reconciliation Bill



Marie Crise is able to use her SNAP benefits to purchase fresh,
healthy fruits and vegetables at the Abingdon Farmers Market in
Abingdon, VA. Photo by Laura Elizabeth Pohl. From Bread blog.


We need your voice today! Congress has been proposing more cuts to programs vital to hungry and poor people. The latest is a vote that the House of Representatives will take soon on additional cuts to SNAP and Child Tax Credits. 


Call your member of the U.S. House of Representatives today using 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill. Or Send an Email.  Call NOW!  The House may vote as soon as Thursday, May 10.


The House of Representatives is using a legislative process known as reconciliation for the FY 2013 budget. (Reconciliation reduces the federal deficit by changing mandatory programs such as SNAP. It instructs authorizing committees in Congress to change eligibility requirements or benefit levels to save money.)

This reconciliation bill, which the House of Representatives is about to vote on, will have a devastating impacts on hungry and poor people. Please call your representative now at 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill.  Or Send an Email.

Here are the basic talking points:

• We support a Faithful Federal Budget that “act[s] with mercy and justice by serving the common good, robustly funding support for poor and vulnerable people, both at home and abroad, and exercising proper care and keeping of the earth.
• Don’t balance the budget by cutting programs for hungry and poor people.
• SNAP is a lifeline for 46 million vulnerable Americans struggling to put food on the table. Eighty-five percent of SNAP benefits go to families with children, elderly or disabled people.
• The Child Tax Credit effectively lifts millions of children and families out of poverty every year. In 2010, the Child Tax Credit lifted 1.3 million children out of poverty.

If you have more time, you can also use the following points to expand your message:

• Cutting programs that serve poor and vulnerable populations is not the way to reduce our deficits. Congress must take a balanced approach that maintains our commitment to serving those in need.

• SNAP efficiently and effectively delivers food assistance to the neediest individuals and families. A recent study confirms that SNAP not only lifts families out of poverty, but also alleviates the depth and severity of poverty.

• The House proposed cuts to SNAP are tantamount to saying that every religious congregation across the United States needs to come up with an estimated extra $50,000 a year for the next 10 years to make up the difference.

• Food banks have seen a nearly 50 percent increase in demand since 2006. Any cuts to nutrition programs will put an even greater strain on charities and churches providing emergency food assistance.

• A parent with two kids working full-time at minimum wage in our country doesn’t earn enough to keep the family above the poverty line. Refundable tax credits, like the Child Tax Credit, boost earnings so working parents don’t have to raise their children in poverty.

• The bill proposes to cut state funding for services that play a critical role in preventing child abuse, increasing the availability of child care, and providing community-based care for elderly and disabled individuals. In 2009, just some of these funds provided adult protective services for well over 500,000 seniors.

Every time Congress proposes these types of harmful cuts to programs for hungry and poor people, we must loudly oppose it. These types of cuts are unacceptable. We need to continue to put the pressure on the House of Representatives.  So please call today.  

Call your representative at 1-800-326-4941 and tell him or her to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill today! Or Send an Email.

Office of Public Witness Offers Information on Washington’s Debt Ceiling Deal

On Tuesday, August 3rd, Office of Public Witness staff worked with colleagues in the Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs (DHN) to present a webinar on the content of the debt ceiling deal approved by Congress and signed by the President earlier this week.  The deal will increase the federal debt ceiling by at least $2.1 trillion and cut federal spending by about the same amount.

The goal of the webinar was to present the details of the new law, in addition to outlining the faith community’s concerns in this debate and the steep road of work ahead.  To learn more about the newest law of the land, watch a recording of Tuesday’s webinar.

About five minutes before the webinar began, the hosting software reached its capacity, so that many people were unable to login to the webinar.  Because of this overwhelming interest, this webinar will be presented again on Tuesday, August 9^th, and 2pm eastern time.  Instructions for logging in will be available as soon as possible on the Office of Public Witness website, blog, and Facebook page.

The Faith-based advocacy community is gearing up for several more months, and even years, of witness on behalf of those who can least afford to bear the cost of budget cuts.  In Tuesday’s webinar, representatives from the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, PC(USA) Office of Public Witness, and Bread for the World, explained that there is much work to be done in the months ahead.

“Whatever you think about [this bill], this is only the first phase.  This was not the final card,” said Amelia Kegan, Policy Analyst from Bread for the World.

Watch the recorded webinar or join the reprise presentation on Tuesday, August. 9^th. http://umc.adobeconnect.com/p52l9dkkrln/