Kennebec Journal - '08 Farm Bill About Much More than Farms

Statement

Kennebec Journal - '08 Farm Bill About Much More than Farms

In late May, both houses of Congress voted to override President Bush's veto of a bill replacing the Farm Bill of 2002.

The new Farm Bill -- more formally and accurately titled the "Food, Conservation and Energy Security Act of 2008" -- does much more than establish agriculture policies. In a multitude of ways, the law will make life better for the people of Maine and the nation, and that is why I was pleased to support it.

The measure will help Maine farmers (particularly dairy farmers and producers of specialty crops like broccoli, potatoes, blueberries and apples) survive and succeed. But the new law also will feed the hungry in our cities and villages, provide healthy meals and snacks for our school children, improve the quality of our air, water and land, spur the development and use of biofuels grown in Maine's forests and fields, open private land for hunters and fishermen, conserve our state's precious farmland, provide consumers with country-of-origin labels on meat and produce, encourage development in economically struggling northern counties from Maine to New York, drive down fuel prices by tightening regulation of commodity trading and make Internet access more widely available and affordable in rural areas.

That's quite a varied and important list of achievements.

I played a role in including some of the provisions in the final bill, including those relating to alternative energy, commodity speculation and affordable, high-speed Internet access. I am disappointed that the new law does not end subsidies for commodity crops (like wheat, soybeans and corn) produced by large agricultural enterprises in the West and Midwest. This support is wasteful and unnecessary.

But this bill is far more balanced than the Farm Bill of 2002, which I opposed; the subsidies have been reduced and the other priorities, which are very good for Maine, are enhanced.

The new Farm Bill deals comprehensively with America's rich agricultural assets and the interconnected issues that they raise. The legislation will help ensure not only that no child or senior goes hungry, but that nutritious food is available to them. The law addresses the need to keep our land viable for crops. And under this law, we will explore new ways to use our land to lessen this country's dependence on fossil fuels.

As the price of food has soared, the nutrition components of the bill have become especially important. This year, the federal government allocated about $60 billion to put food on the tables of low-income Americans. The new law will add an additional $10.36 billion, of which $7.8 billion is slated for the Food Stamp program, $1.26 billion for the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and $1 billion for the free fresh fruit and vegetable snack program. Food banks will get immediate extra help -- $50 million in 2008.

The face of hunger in poor countries is impossible to miss: starving children with bloated bellies and street riots over unaffordable food prices. In Maine, the face of hunger is often hidden, but it can be found in the elderly neighbors who must choose between heat and dinner, the children whose only reliable meal is provided free at school, the working poor who risk their health by filling up on inexpensive, low-nutrition foods, the families who line up at soup kitchens and food banks at the end of the month when there is no money left for groceries.

The number of Americans who rely on food stamps jumped by more than a million in the six months that ended in January, more than three times the increase for that period a year ago.

Food banks across Maine report many more people turning to them for help; workers see a heartbreaking number of bare cupboards in the homes of the elderly.

The demand for assistance has not only grown, but supply has dwindled. Food stamps don't buy as much as prices rise, and food pantries have less to give away. More efficient, computerized inventory systems at grocery chain store have reduced supplies of past-date fresh meat and produce that used to be donated to food banks. Donations of surplus food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture also have decreased significantly.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Security Act of 2008 will be true to its name, ensuring that Americans will have healthy food available, that our land will be conserved for future generations, and that we will enhance our global security by creating new sources of home-grown energy.

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