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Seeking Balance in US Farm and Food Policy

(CLICK HERE for a printable PDF copy.)

“Seeking Balance in US Farm and Food Policy” outlines a series of broad goals and specific measures that the 2007 Farm Bill should advance to make real progress in supporting family farms, promoting entrepreneurship in rural America, enhancing conservation and environmental quality, advancing diversity and support for socially disadvantaged farmers, and tackling the serious hunger and diet-related health problems facing our nation’s citizens.

The statement has been endorsed by some 350 organizations from across the country, including the Regional Farm & Food Project. It was developed under the auspices of the Farm and Food Policy Project (www.farmandfoodproject.org) with input from family farm, sustainable and organic agriculture, rural, public health, anti-hunger, environmental, minority, faith-based, and other groups.

Basic Messages:

• The farm and food system affects us all.
• Current farm bill priorities don’t adequately address many of the nation’s most pressing health, social, economic, and environmental challenges.
• New alliances are forming to shape the 2007 Farm Bill, including anti-hunger, nutrition, faith-based, public health, rural, conservation, family farm and other groups.
• "Seeking Balance” offers concrete, innovative solutions for a healthier, more sustainable farm and food system.

Tips for Talking about “Seeking Balance”:

• Indicate that this statement identifies both broad goals (e.g., need for fair and equitable farm programs, need for strengthened conservation title and food assistance programs) and concrete steps toward achieving those goals (see innovations below).
• Emphasize how “Seeking Balance” lends support to your organization’s mission and specific priorities.
• Refer to the importance of building new and broader alliances, bringing new voices into discussions about the future of farming and the food system.
• You don’t have to accept the terms of reference of reporter’s question. Reframe, as needed, to emphasize the core message you want to convey (e.g., opportunities for creating a healthier, more sustainable farm and food system, etc.).

Additional Background:

The Farm and Food Policy Project was initiated by funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. As the project has matured, the primary support for the project has come from the hard work and creativity of diverse individuals and organizations dedicated to improving the vitality of agriculture and the food system.

Support for “Seeking Balance” means that you see value in a cross-sector dialogue about the future of the U.S. agriculture and food system and support efforts to identify cross-cutting policy innovations. It does not imply support for any particular piece of legislation or legislative language, or for any specific policy proposal in the document.

Key Innovations Listed In “Seeking Balance”

Innovations to Advance New Opportunities in Farming

• Create a comprehensive initiative to assist new and beginning farmers and ranchers, including transitioning farmers and farm workers.
• Target programs and resources to the growing ranks of women farmers, landowners, and food system entrepreneurs.
• Establish organic transition assistance and certification cost-share for farmers seeking to develop more sustainable systems and meet growing consumer demand for organic foods.
• Reorient investments in research and extension to better support new farmers, new and ethnic markets, rural entrepreneurship, sustainable and organic farming, renewable energy production, and ecosystem services.
• Improve risk management options for sustainable production systems, organic farmers, socially disadvantaged producers, and new and transitioning farmers.

Innovations to Expand New Markets

• Provide increased support for value-added agricultural enterprises and for supply chain innovations that link family farm businesses with new markets and distribution networks.
• Make a major investment in grants to spur farmers markets and other direct farmer-to-consumer marketing innovations.
• Reduce regulatory barriers and provide support for processing and distribution infrastructure to complement emerging retail and institutional markets for local and regional farm products, including sustainably raised meats, eggs, and milk.
• Improve the enforceability of laws designed to ensure competitive and fair agricultural markets and to increase access to market information.

Innovations to 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.

Innovations to Capitalize on Rural Strengths and Promote Community Development

• Promote rural entrepreneurship and micro-enterprise business development.
• Advance rural community and economic development through local leadership, wealth creation, entrepreneurship, and youth involvement.
• Create savings incentives for families living and working in rural areas losing population.
• Create entrepreneurial networks and partnerships to create rural jobs, assist small business startups, and spur community innovations.

Innovations to Create a New Generation of Agricultural Conservation

• Reward stewardship by making the Conservation Security Program annually available to all farmers and ranchers who meet heightened environmental criteria and by streamlining the program’s payment structure.
• Develop incentives to reward organic farming systems and establish an initiative to promote wider use of ecologically-based integrated pest management.
• Ensure that conservation programs better address the needs of new and beginning farmers and ranchers.
• Invest in farm-based renewable energy systems – from biofuels to wind power – that result in measurable, net environmental gains and build rural community assets.
• Re-establish quantifiable conservation objectives, and dedicate funds to monitor and assess the environmental benefits of conservation programs.

Innovations to Promote Local Leadership in Conservation

• Encourage locally led collaborations to solve environmental problems and meet community needs by establishing a Cooperative Conservation Partnerships Initiative.
• Create incentives designed to reward innovation and performance by states and localities.

Innovations to Eliminate Disparities and Ensure Fair Access

• Institute a farm viability program for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
• Launch an initiative to increase conservation program participation by socially disadvantaged producers.
• Fully fund USDA offices and extension agents on Indian Reservations.
• Increase and expand the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Rancher Program (2501).
• Establish an independent review process and direct USDA to stop foreclosures and waive interest on loans of producers in unresolved discrimination cases.
• Expand innovative, community-based approaches to solving food access problems in urban and other underserved communities.

Innovations to Assist Farm Workers

• Establish an Office of Farm Workers at USDA.
• Recognize farm worker experience as a qualification to enter USDA agriculture and credit programs.
• Expand the Emergency Grants to Farm Workers program to allow organizations to meet farm worker needs in times of disasters.
• Increase pesticide health and safety training for farm workers, including better labeling and reporting on pesticide use.