BUILDING A MORE
JUST FRAMEWORK
Reauthorization of the
Farm Bill presents an
opportunity to reshape
our broken agricultural
policies. Now is the time
to build a more just
framework that better
serves rural communities
and small and moderate-
size family farms in the
U.S., promotes good
stewardship of the land,
overcomes hunger
domestically and abroad,
and helps vulnerable
farmers and their families
in developing countries.
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Improving the Food Stamp Program:
The Food Stamp program is our nation’s first line of defense against hunger, helping over 26 million low-income people put food on the table. The bishops have long supported strengthening the domestic food assistance programs to ensure that no one in America goes hungry or suffers malnutrition. Among the priorities for Farm Bill reauthorization are ending the five-year waiting period for adult legal immigrants before they can receive Food Stamps, increasing benefit levels to reflect higher food costs (average Food Stamp benefit level is $1 per person per meal), and improving outreach and enrollment so the millions of eligible families not yet enrolled can get help.
Fighting Hunger Overseas:
Approximately 850 million people worldwide are considered food insecure, meaning they do not have access to sufficient food to meet their needs for a healthy life. The Farm Bill should continue to provide for the use of U.S. commodities to help combat food insecurity around the world. In addition, such commodities can provide an important source of long-term development programming in such areas as stimulating local agriculture expansion, supporting school feeding programs, as well as an important source of support for those impacted by HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable populations.
Reducing Hunger & Improving Nutrition
The first measure of both a healthy food system and a responsible society is its capacity to provide for the basic nutritional needs of all members of society. Even though the United States is the wealthiest country in the world and produces an abundance of crops and livestock, too many Americans remain hungry or uncertain about where their next meal will come from.
The lack of healthy, affordable retail food outlets in many rural and urban communities aggravates health disparities between income groups. Many chronic diseases – including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain forms of cancer – are directly influenced by individual dietary intake, which is in turn influenced by the ability to purchase healthy and affordable food. Every dollar responsibly invested in encouraging healthy eating behaviors and preventing obesity, especially among children, will payoff many times in the reduced long-term costs to society of treating diet-related illnesses.
Federal nutrition programs are vital to the food security and health of lower income Americans. For these individuals and families, Food Stamps and other supporting programs are a critical source of food and must be strengthened in the next Farm Bill through broadening and simplifying eligibility, especially for legal immigrants, and providing benefits adequate to purchase healthy foods by Food Stamp recipients.
It is common sense that farm and food policy be linked more strongly with national health and nutrition goals. Federal nutrition programs, such as the Food Stamp Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and the National School Lunch Program are recognizing the important impact that food quality has on individual health. Promising changes are underway to ensure that these programs provide quality foods, while maintaining an emphasis on personal choice. This is especially important in public schools that participate in federal nutrition programs, where policies should require that all food served meets US dietary guidelines.
New stakeholders – in public health, nutrition, local and state government, and entrepreneurial businesses – are identifying business models, procurement policies, and supply chain innovations that can make our system of food production, processing, and distribution more responsive to the health needs of all Americans. The next Farm Bill should support these and other efforts to increase the availability of healthful, nutritious foods for all Americans, especially children. Policymakers should take special care to increase funding for programs that make healthy and affordable food accessible to the most vulnerable in our society. In addition to linking consumers directly with farmers generally, Congress should expand coupon programs that allow lowincome and elderly Americans to shop at farmers markets. Expanded nutrition education programs are needed so that consumers better understand the health benefits of consuming more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, and other minimally processed foods.
Fostering local and regional food systems that afford access to healthy food at peak nutritional value should be a policy priority. Community gardens in neighborhoods and on working farms close to cities and towns are important for children and families seeking to learn about agriculture, produce fresh foods for themselves, and purchase it from local growers. These community-based food projects create a more diverse and healthy food supply – one that helps individuals improve the quality of the food they eat and builds connections between urban and rural communities.
On a broader scale, federal policies should facilitate increased institutional and agency procurement of local and regional agricultural products by schools, hospitals, food banks, retirement centers, governmental offices, and prisons. The scaling up of these supply chains and the retail outlets they serve – from supermarkets and corner stores to restaurants and farmers markets – is an important new avenue for expanding consumer access to healthy foods and increasing markets for farmers.
CORE FARM BILL PRIORITIES
Reducing Hunger, Improving Nutrition
 Strengthen critical federal food assistance programs, especially the Food Stamp Program.
Expand and improve nutrition education to support community-based solutions to obesity and food insecurity.
Increase access to healthier foods for all Americans, including through government food assistance programs.
KEY FARM BILL INNOVATIONS
Increase Food Access and Improve Health
Encourage greater consumption of fruits and vegetables by enabling federal nutrition program beneficiaries to purchase food at local farmers markets and other retail food outlets.
Expand innovative, community-based food programs to increase the scale and scope of institutional and emergency food purchasing programs, including through changes in procurement policy and support for infrastructure development.
Create new and expanded food systems programs to help communities develop retail food markets, urban agriculture projects, and marketing networks to address the needs of underserved neighborhoods.
Provide funding to school child nutrition programs to provide fruits and vegetables in schools, implement wellness policies, and expand nutrition education.
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