Source: NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COALITION, 6/21/18

Today, the House passed its deeply flawed farm bill, H.R. 2, which was widely criticized by farm and food advocates nationwide.

Farm, rural, conservation, and anti-hunger organizations, including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), have been clamoring for the House to commit to a bipartisan, farmer-forward farm bill even before the first vote on H.R. 2 took place last May. The bill passed today by the House is full of provisions that would severely undermine local and regional food economies, weaken or eliminate popular conservation programs, and take food from the mouths of hungry Americans.

NSAC is dismayed that House leadership has refused to engage in the thoughtful, bipartisan debate that has been the hallmark of all previous farm bills. Our nation’s farmers, families, and food-producing communities deserve better. They deserve a strong farm bill that can gain enough support in both the House and Senate to ensure passage of a final package before the expiration of the current farm bill.

Thankfully, the Senate Agriculture Committee has been able to work in a bipartisan manner to produce a bill that invests in, rather than undermines, a more sustainable future for American agriculture. We thank Senate Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for their commitment to bipartisanship and their efforts to support family farmers.

NSAC remains committed to securing a bipartisan farm bill before the September 30 deadline, and will urge all members of the farm bill conference committee to come together to produce a bill that supports small and mid-scale family farms, closes loopholes that facilitate farm consolidation and concentration, advances stewardship, and invests in farm-to-fork economies.