Farm Bill

The Farm Bill--it controls what we eat, who's making our food, and how we buy it. This massive bill contains provisions that dictate crucial parts of our food system, and a new bill is being debated right now in Congress. Unfortunately, the current bill contains measures that will weaken regulation of GM crops, cut food assistance for hungry families, and give more money to large-scale farms. We must weigh in to stop the passage of even more legislation that helps Big Agriculture.

The House of Representatives is currently debating this bill, which could be voted on any day. Sign now to say: We want a fair farm bill that supports local, organic and sustainable food.
Some examples of provisions in the bill:

• Genetically modified (GM) crops would be exempted from environmental reviews, and could go on sale even without approval from the USDA.
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) will be cut by $16 billion, meaning over 2 million working class families and children will lose benefits.
• Large subsidized growers (who already have household incomes >$200k on average) will get higher price guarantees for their crops, giving megafarms even more power to drive small-scale farmers out of business.
• At a time when demand for organic food is soaring, this bill will repeal a program that helps defray the costs of organic certification for farms.
• State standards for farm and food production would be blocked. This would stop a recently passed CA law that mandates more humane treatment for egg-laying chickens.

The bill is so flawed that even USDA chief Tom Vilsack issued a critical statement, saying "These cuts wouldn’t just leave Americans hungry – they would stunt economic growth. The bill also makes misguided reductions to critical energy and conservation program efforts."

Tell our representatives to protect the health and welfare of regular Americans, not Big Business. Let them know we support good food and we're paying close attention to the Farm Bill debate.

The House of Representatives is currently debating this bill, which could be voted on any day. Sign now to say: We want a fair farm bill that supports local, organic and sustainable food.

http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11316