[Community_garden] CFSC Farm Bill Update Sept. 14, 2007

Fri Sep 14 10:27:15 EDT 2007

CFSC Farm Bill Update
September 14, 2007 

When people feel empowered, they can be inspired to create a difference in
their communities. When people have a voice in the changes that directly
help their families, they become invested in the process and positive
results continue to grow and succeed. This is why Community Food Projects
has been so successful.

Thank you for your continued efforts to fund Community Food Projects (CFP)
in the 2007 Farm Bill. As we've reported in previous Farm Bill updates
(archived on www.foodsecurity.org/policy
<http://www.foodsecurity.org/policy> <http://www.foodsecurity.org/policy> ),
CFP did not receive mandatory money in the House version of the Farm Bill.
As the Farm Bill moves to the Senate, your Senators need to hear from you
that Community Food Projects is vital to food security in your state.  

Contact your Senators TODAY and ask them to fund Community Food Projects as
close to $30 million in MANDATORY money as they can.

Your efforts right now can make a big difference to get mandatory funding
for Community Food Projects in the Senate Farm Bill. If you have already
called, please forward this action alert to a friend or colleague. Your
Senators' contact information can be found by calling the Capitol
Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Or look it up here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

ALL Senators are important to contact, but if one of your Senators is on the
Agriculture Committee, they ESPECIALLY need to hear from you. To see if your
Senator is on the Agriculture Committee, go to
http://agriculture.senate.gov/sen.htm

These quick phone calls will take only a few minutes of your time, but could
make a huge impact on whether this program continues. Thank you for making
your voice heard!

Recent Farm Bill Developments

Senate Champion for the Community Food Projects:
Senator Debbie A. Stabenow (D-MI), an Agriculture and Finance Committee
member, has agreed to champion increased funds for Community Food Projects
in the upcoming Senate version of the Farm Bill.  Many thanks to Senator
Stabenow for her support and leadership!

Senate Timing:
According to Congress Daily on September 11, Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom
Harkin (D-IA) announced that he intends for the Senate Agriculture Committee
to debate the draft of the Farm Bill the week of September 24. However,
there have been published reports from various new sources that have
speculated later dates as well. These dates seem to be in flux, and we at
CFSC will let you know as soon as we have a solid date for the Senate
meeting. Because the Senate could move at any time in the next few weeks,
it's important to make calls to your Senators now.

Senate Farm Bill Finance Situation:
On Tuesday, September 11, Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT.) announced he would put
forward a package between $8 billion and $10 billion in the coming weeks.
Sen. Baucus's plan includes the conversion of several conservation payment
programs into tax credit offset programs, which he says would free some farm
bill funding for other programs. He also proposes a trust fund to finance
continued weather-related disaster insurance, tailored to constituents in
the Northern Plains states. Sen. Baucus is one of the 8 members of the
Finance Committee that are also on the Agriculture Committee.

Commodity Policies: 
Harkin proposes limiting subsidies to $250,000 per farm household while
banning any subsidies for farm households whose income exceeds $500,000.
Also proposed as a reform and a change to the House version of the bill,
spouses would no longer be eligible to receive farm benefits.

Senators Richard Durbin (IL) and Sherrod Brown (OH) have proposed a program
that bases payments on a farmer's loss of revenue instead of the current
system that ties payments to the price of crops. An alternative to
continuing the permanent crop insurance that Baucus promotes, this system
could save funding for other programs. Both Harkin and the National Corn
Growers Association support this plan, but some say that more state specific
concerns need to be taken into account because the loss of revenue would be
based on national figures, not local markets. 

Conservation in the Farm Bill: 
Harkin seeks to expand the Conservation Reserve Program, which rewards
farmers who use responsible practices to limit soil erosion and keep fragile
land out of production use. However, it is unclear whether Baucus' funding
proposal will include money for this and other conservation programs.

Senator Craig's resignation: 
With the news of Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) resignation, groups advocating
for specialty crop issues will be losing a major ally. Sen. Craig was an
original co-sponsor on the specialty crop marker bill (S. 1160), introduced
by Sen. Stabenow earlier this year.

Media Report: 
There have been lots of interesting editorials and articles about the Farm
Bill in the last week, here are links to some that caught our attention.

*	Max Fraser in The Nation, "Farm Aid Raises a Vision"
<http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070924/fraser> 
*	Marc H. Morial of the National Urban League in Louisiana Weekly,
"Congress must not forget Urban America in 2007 Farm Bill"
<http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20070910i > 
*	Neil Hamilton in the DesMoines Register, "Take integrated approach
to a food-and-farm bill"
<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/OPINIO
N01/708260323/1035/archive
<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826OPINION
01/708260323/1035/archive>
<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826OPINION
01/708260323/1035/archive> > 

After being on hiatus for the August congressional recess, the Farm Bill
update will again be issued on a regular basis as information becomes
available. We at the CFSC office would like to welcome our new interns,
Kacie Warner and Sarah Martin, whose efforts to get you this information
will be invaluable this fall. Welcome Kacie and Sarah!

Thanks again to all of you for your efforts!

Steph, Sarah, and Kacie

-- 
Community Food Security Coalition
110 Maryland Ave. NE Suite 307
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: 202.543.8602
Email: Steph at foodsecurity.org
www.FoodSecurity.org

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