The House is expected to vote on the Farm Bill on Thursday, July 26. Please call your representative immediately to express your support for these key important items:
- Urge your representative to support Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), to reject any attempts to weaken or further delay COOL, or to make it voluntary; and to pass mandatory COOL for meat and produce as Congress intended in the 2002 Farm Bill.
- Urge your representative to reject any amendments to cut certification cost-share funding for organic producers and processors, to support increased funding for organic research, and to support assistance for farmers transitioning to organic agriculture.
- Urge your representative to support mandatory funding for the Community Food Project Grant Program, the Organic Research and Extension program, the Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program and the Healthy Enterprise Development Program that would help small and mid-sized farmers distribute their products to local markets.
- Urge your representative to reject any amendments or provisions that tie COOL implementation to NAIS (National Animal Identification System, or mandatory ID).
- Urge your representative to support USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to enter into contracts “for the development of improvements to federal crop insurance policies” for organic crops, including a review of risk and loss experience of organic crops relative to non-organic crops.
You can call your House representative at the Capitol switchboard (202) 224-3121.
This is a Food Bill, too. Help support sustainable, healthy food and farming!
