Can't Make it to Ecumenical Advocacy Days?
Join with thousands of faith voices in our 2013 Legislative ASK:
A FULL, MULTI-YEAR REAUTHORIZATION OF THE FARM BILL.
Our nation’s food and farm policies, as embodied in the farm
bill, affect people from rural America to inner cities, from our local communities
to less industrialized regions around the world. The farm bill is the single
largest piece of federal policy impacting our food system. A good farm bill can
strengthen nutrition programs, help our struggling rural communities, support
new and socially disadvantaged farmers, enhance global food aid to the world’s
most impoverished, and encourage farming and ranching practices that protect
God’s creation. Congress failed to pass a farm bill in 2012, and a number of
important programs that promote a just and healthy food system are currently
without funding. Other programs are continuing, but need the certainty provided
by a multi-year farm bill.
Congress should enact a farm bill this year that alleviates
hunger and malnutrition, supports vibrant farms and healthy communities, and
protects God’s creation. Send an email to Congress, urging them to support a full, multi-yearreauthorization of the farm bill that:
Alleviates hunger and malnutrition:
Protects and strengthens programs that reduce hunger and
improve nutrition in the United States. We ask that funding for the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (formerly known as food
stamps) be protected from cuts and harmful structural changes that would
increase hunger in our nation.
Sustains robust international food aid and improves the
nutritional quality of food aid. In view of the ongoing threat of high food
prices, natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world, we ask for
robust funding for programs that provide emergency and non-emergency food aid
for the hungry. As the world’s largest provider of international food aid, the
United States must also lead the way in improving its quality to maximize the
nutritional benefit.
Supports vibrant farms and strong communities:
Helps beginning farmers and farmers from socially
disadvantaged groups start in the business of agriculture.
We ask Congress to support new farmers by funding programs
that are critical in growing the next generation of farmers, an imperative goal
in light of the aging of American farmers and in bolstering women and minority
farmers.
Builds local and regional food systems and the rural
communities at their center.
For communities in the United States, we ask Congress to
support programs such as the Farmers Market Promotion Program, which provides
new markets for small and mid-sized farmers in suburbs and cities, offering
consumers the opportunity to support local producers and giving people in
vulnerable communities greater access to fresh food.
For communities around the world, we ask Congress to reform
international food aid by purchasing more of the food in the areas where it is
consumed. The Local and Regional Procurement Program can help more hungry
people for the same cost, support rural development in low-income countries and
increase global food security.
Protects God’s creation:
Strengthens policies and programs that promote conservation
of soil and water and protect creation from environmental degradation. We ask
Congress to protect funding for conservation programs, particularly those for working
lands such as the Conservation Stewardship Program, which have substantial
waiting lists and serve a diverse base of farmers and ranchers. Funds for these
programs should not be used to pay for other priorities. Farms and ranches account
for a majority of the land base in many states, and play a key role in ensuring
soil and water quality and in maintaining open space and wildlife habitat.
Email Congress Now!
Email Congress Now!
