foodperson.com

With a vote or votes at hand the week of July 16, the time is urgent for us to contact our congresspeople and let them know we want a farm bill that is good public policy. That means we want a farm bill that promotes production of healthy food rather than one that underwrites junk.

Although dramatic change seems unlikely, the voices of people like you and me can make a difference. Don’t know what to say or whom to call? Not to worry, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has put together a guide that gives a little background on key farm bill issues that it supports and that gives telephone numbers for Agriculture Committee members. The guide also provides suggestions on how to make the biggest impact and ideas on what to say.

The coalition is focusing on four likely amendments to the current bill, and the link above gives background on them. They are:

• Beginning Farmer and Rancher Initiative
• Conservation Security Program
• Farmers Market Promotion Program and Community Food Projects
• Organic Provision and Sustainable Agriculture Research

I’m particularly interested in the conservation and community food programs, and I’d like to see the commodities program revamped. How about you?

If you’re curious about the fuss, you can search for “farm bill” on foodperson.com (see the search box at the top), and I particularly recommend ethicurean.com (the digests are a wealth of information) and its farm bill category.

We are what we eat, and it’s time we started eating food grown in sustainable ways and, if possible, close to home. Act now!