Putting Local Eating into Federal Legislation

By Marc

The current food system, with its ubiquitous corn products, feedlots, and multi-thousand mile transportation networks, did not "just happen" through the wonders of the free market.  It has been shaped by government agriculture, transportation and trade programs, like the interstate highway system, crop subsidies, water projects, federally-funded export programs, health regulations, and so forth.  And since policy was important in creating the current system, policy can influence its evolution to something more sustainable.   

Congress and the Executive Branch are always tinkering with agricultural programs, as recently documented by the Washington Post in an ongoing series.  For example, if a House member needs to bring home some pork to help his bid for the Senate, some customs duties can be diverted to provide checks for ranchers in his district.  Or if a powerful Senator wants to help out the catfish industry in his state, a letter to the Agriculture Secretary can secure a rule change.

The Farm Bill
More comprehensive changes to agricultural policy are made through an omnibus piece of legislation known as the "Farm Bill."  The Farm Bill helps to set the national policy on agricultural subsidies, food export programs, health and safety programs, land conservation, drought relief programs, anti-hunger efforts, and much more.  In 2006 and 2007, Congress is expected to create and debate the next Farm Bill.  The USDA has already started holding forums and issuing analysis papers, as have activists like the California Food and Justice Coalition.  The House and Senate committees responsible for the Farm Bill have been having field hearings around the nation about farm policy (House schedule, Senate schedule).

The 2002 farm bill was called the "Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002," and was signed into law by President Bush in May 2002.  The bill is comprehensive and complex, and a summary is beyond the scope of this blog (and also my competence and patience!).  For a 4-page summary of the farm bill's structure, see The Farm Bill in Brief, a report by an agricultural policy expert in the Congressional Research Service.  The Service also prepared a 50 page overview soon after the bill was signed in 2002.  Some of the provisions of the 2002 bill were 

• $15 billion per year in commodity price supports.  Of commodity program payments during 2002-05, approximately 93% were given to growers of wheat, rice, corn, soybean and cotton.  "High-valued" crops (items such as fruit, vegetables, eggs, nuts) received just 1.9% of the subsidies.  (source:  Risk Management Theme Paper).  For state-by-state subsidy data, visit the Environmental Working Group's Farm Subsidy Database.
• About $25 billion per year in nutrition programs, like food stamps.
• Almost $4 billion per year in conservation programs.  These include payments to farmers to protect wetlands, control soil erosion, improve water quality, and so forth.
• A few hundred million per year for trade programs and agricultural research.  (source for dollar figures in the last three bullet points:  Farm Bill Overview)

I did a little bit of digging into the USDA's web site, and found some information about funding programs for Farmers' Markets, one of the best mechanisms to encourage local eating.  The numbers are tiny: 

 
• Farmers' Markets Promotion Program - $1 million annually
• Community Food Projects  -  $5 million annually for projects that improve food supply in low-income communities
• Value-added agriculture product market development - $33 million annually to help producers create value-added products and distribution channels
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Farmers' Markets program - $25 million annually
• Seniors Farmers' Market Nutrition program - $15 million annually
• The Organic Research Initiative - $3 million per year for research on organic farming methods, marketing approaches, and other subjects

The total for this list is under $100 million, about 0.67% of the annual expenditures for commodity price supports, and just 0.025% of the total Farm Bill's allocations (the source for the numbers is the 10-year estimate in a CRS report).

A New Landscape in 2007
Although the farm bill has historically been a negotiation between lawmakers from the farm belt states, the landscape in 2007 includes a diverse collection of interest groups that are seeking new directions in farm policy and several other significant political factors: 

• Sustainable food advocates are getting ready to fight for a new type of farm bill, one that promotes small organic, diverse farms instead of huge chemical-drenched monocultures.
• Advocates for the developing world see farm subsidies damaging the economies of poor nations around the world (for example, the the effect of U.S. corn on Mexico, rigged trade rules that favor rich countries, or bankrupting cotton farmers in West Africa).
• The EU and other organizations are pushing for a reduction in subsidies in World Trade Organization negotiations (the "Doha Round").
• Conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation are churning out position papers condemning farm subsidies.
• The biofuel industry (which now includes petroleum companies like Chevron) is coveting the Midwest's grain.
• The very few Republicans in Congress who are truly interested in fiscal responsibility would like significant cuts in subsidy programs.
• The anti-immigrant crowd in Congress is whipped up into a frenzy.
• One or both houses of Congress might be controlled by the Democratic Party.
• And, as usual, the lawmakers from the farm-belt states will be pushing for expansion of the programs, or at least some stability.  Note that 2007 will not be a Congressional election year, so Congress's need for pork might be somewhat lower than it was in 2002.

With these forces pulling lawmakers in many different directions, there is a chance that positive changes can be made, especially since the expenditures on local food programs like farmers' markets and organic farming research are at the level of rounding errors compared to commodity support programs.   

What Would a Farm Bill Contain to Increase Local Eating?
Although the recent history of Congress shows an inordinate influence of well-funded lobbyists and a penchant for keeping bills under wrap just a few hours before the vote, the 2007 Farm Bill renewal process could provide a chance for grass-roots organizations to affect policy, or at least shift the momentum away agribusiness.

Some programs that could encourage local eating include:

• Support for farmers' markets or produce stores in low income areas (like this one)
• Assistance for community gardens, especially in urban areas
• Schoolyard agriculture programs
• Farm-to-school programs
• Urban agriculture grants
• Certification of small-scale slaughterhouses for pasture-raised animals
• Educational programs to train the next generation of farmers
• Grants to states to cover their costs for conservation easements           

See this Gristmill post and the American Farmland Trust's policy papers for a sense of other ideas.

What Can We Do About It?

Beyond voting with your fork on a daily basis, there are several ways you can make your voice heard:

• Write your elected representatives and ask them to push for a farm bill that aims for sustainability, local foods, and provides more help to small farms.  Even if you don't live in a "farm state", if your members of Congress receive a significant number of letters about local food, they might get involved in the process.  (Find your lawmakers' address in the House and in the Senate)
• Fill out the feedback form at the House Committee on Agriculture.
• Find out if your lawmakers are on the key committee.  For the Senate, it is the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee;  for the House, visit the Committee on Agriculture.  Members of these committees will spend the most time with the legislation through hearings and mark-up sessions.
  
• Donate to your favorite agriculture, fair trade, and organic product advocacy groups.  Donations to many of these organizations are tax-deductible.

Although our number is few and our finances tiny compared to giants like ADM and Cargill, members of Congress occasionally show interest in their constituents' opinions, especially if informed by a large number of thoughtful letters.   

At the bottom of this post I have collected a list of website for further education or action.  I'm sure I missed a few activist groups and blogs, so if you think of any omissions, please add more in the comments and I'll try to update the post later.

Marc lives in Berkeley, California and writes Mental Masala, an enticing blend of food, history, travel, and nature.

Additional Resources

News

• Washington Post coverage
• Des Moines Register's Washington Farm Report
• USDA Farm Bill Forums
• USDA Analysis Papers

How Congress Really Works These Days
In the last 10 years or so, Congress--and especially the House of Representatives--has changed from a deliberative, inclusive body into a political machine in which the leadership makes most of the decisions and prevents input from the minority party.  This dynamic was covered in a special series by the Boston Globe:

• Part 1:  Back-room dealing a Capitol trend
• Part 2:  Energy bill a special-interests triumph
• Part 3:  Medicare bill a study in D.C. spoils

For additional information about the current state of Congress, keep your eyes and ears open for op-ed pieces, articles and interviews from Congressional scholars Thomas Mann (Brookings Institution) and Norman Ornstein (American Enterprise Institute) in support of their forthcoming book The Broken Branch.

Activism

• American Farmland Trust and their Policy Campaign
• Organic Consumers Association
• Organic Farming Research Foundation
• Community Food Security Coalition
• Food First
• America's Second Harvest
• Environmental Working Group

Blogs

• U.S. Food Policy
• Growers and Grocers
• Blog for Rural America
• Gristmill

Reference

• House Committee on Agriculture's Glossary of Agricutural Terms, Programs and Laws
• Full text of the 2002 Farm Bill, Public Law 107-171 (in PDF, or through this page)
• The USDA's Farm Bill Page
• Farm Commodity Programs: A Short Primer, Congressional Research Service report, June 2002
• The Farm Bill in Brief, Congressional Research Service report, updated March 2006
• Previewing a 2007 Farm Bill, Congressional Research Service report, updated January 2006.  (be sure to check out Figure 3 on page CRS-34, which shows the annual value of agricultural imports and exports since 1982---exports have increased by about 50%, but imports have increased by almost 400%.)
• Farm Bill Overview, Congressional Research Service report, updated September 2002
• Environmental Working Group's Farm Subsidy Database