The undersigned 243 groups from all parts of the country have joined together today to demand that Congress develop and pass a full and fair Farm Bill this summer, without further delay. A full and fair Farm Bill must include farm, food and nutrition, conservation and rural economic development programs and commodity and crop insurance reforms. It must also provide renewed and enhanced funding for the now-stranded but critical subset of programs that assist the most chronically under-served segments of agriculture and our rural and urban communities. The House and Senate should immediately appoint conferees to work in an open and urgent fashion toward adopting a final full and fair Farm Bill this summer.
The final bill should include:
- All nutrition programs, while rejecting all cuts or changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that would increase hunger or reduce access to nutrition education for any of the 47 million Americans who currently rely on the program to meet basic food needs;
- Full funding for farm conservation programs, enhanced and streamlined to better meet the pressing and accelerating natural resource and environmental issues of our day;
- The cost-saving crop insurance and commodity subsidy reforms included in one or both bills including payment limit reform, national sodsaver, and conservation compliance re-linked to crop insurance — plus additional reforms needed to create a strong, targeted and cost-effective safety net;
- Robust provisions and funding to increase economic opportunity for the nation’s diverse family farmers and ranchers, farm and food workers, rural and urban communities, and Indian Tribes; and
- Provisions to ensure that a comprehensive farm bill with all titles will be updated on a regular five-year basis as conditions in the food and farm system change.
We support equity, justice, opportunity, and access across all titles of the Farm Bill. Therefore, we support removing elements that make the bill less fair and that weaken protections for consumers, including those in need of food assistance; or of farmers, labor and the environment. These include provisions restricting SNAP eligibility as well as those related to the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Act (GIPSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Commerce Clause.
We further pledge to work with Congress to secure passage of a Farm Bill package that continues the currently stranded programs that are so critical to producers and communities around the country. These vital programs – representing a small fraction of overall Farm Bill investments – support beginning, socially disadvantaged, tribal, women, and veteran farmers and ranchers; rural economic development and job creation; renewable energy; fruit and vegetable production; organic farmers; local and regional food systems; farmers markets; healthy food access; and community food and urban agriculture projects.
Completion of a full and fair Farm Bill in 2013 is critical to the health of our recovering national economy. We strongly urge Congress to act now to:
- assure access to affordable healthy and nutritious food for all;
- support the next generations of our nation’s farmers and ranchers;
- protect farm and ranch land, forests, and other natural resources;
- advance food and agriculture-based economic development;
- invest in sustainable agriculture and food system research;
- promote energy conservation and renewable energy production;
- rebuild local and regional food infrastructure and markets; and
- ensure the success of our nation’s diverse producers, farm and food chain workers, and communities in greatest need of the landmark programs wisely created by Congress in the past several Farm Bills, programs which must be funded as part of a full and fair farm bill.
Signed by the following Groups:
21st Century Youth Leadership Movement, Eutaw, AL
American Friends Service Committee Southern NM Agriculture Apprentice Project, El Paso, TX
Agri-Cultura Network, Albuquerque, NM
Agricultural Missions, Inc., New York, NY
Alabama State Association of Cooperatives, Forkland, AL
Alamosa Community Gardens, Alamosa, CO
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Oxnard, CA
Alternative Energy Resources Organization, Helena, MT
America the Beautiful Fund, Washington, DC
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3354, St. Louis, MO
American Sustainable Business Council, New York, NY
Angelic Organics Learning Center, Caledonia, IL
Archetypical Women, Minneapolis, MN
Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corporation, Brinkley, AK
Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake Counties Farmers Union, Windsor, OH
Bay Localize, Oakland, CA
Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, Tillery, NC
Broadfork Farm, Moseley, VA
Brooklyn Food Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
California FarmLink, Sacramento, CA
California Institute for Rural Studies, Davis, CA
CAN-Act, Davis, CA
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Pittsboro, NC
Cascade Harvest Coalition, Seattle, WA
Catholic Charities Rural Life Coordinator, St. Cloud, MN
Catholic Charities, Arcadia, FL
Catholic Rural Life Conference of the St. Martin Deanery, Georgetown, OH
Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, NE
Center for Social Inclusion, New York, NY
Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, San Francisco, CA
Center of Social Sustainable Systems (CESOSS), Albuquerque, NM
Cervantes Orchards, Sunnyside, WA
Chesapeake Food Safety, Nottingham, MD
Chilili Land Grant, Chilili, NM
Church Women United in New York State, Rochester, NY
ColorOfChange.org, Oakland, CA
Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Davis, CA
Community Environmental Council, Santa Barbara, CA
Community Farm Alliance, Frankfort, KY
Community Food & Agriculture Coalition, Missoula, MT
Community Food and Justice Coalition, Oakland, CA
Concerned Citizens of Tillery, Tillery, NC
Corn Dance, Ltd., Oklahoma City, OK
CSA-Center For Social Advocacy, San Diego, CA
Cultivating Community, Portland, ME
Dakota Rural Action, Brookings, SD
Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Milanville, PA
Delta Land & Community, Almyra, AR
Detroit Food Justice Taskforce, Detroit, MI
Dine Agriculture Inc., Shiprock, NM
Dine Policy Institute, Tsaile, AZ
Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Springfield, IL
Dockery Group LLC, Elm City, NC
Earth Cluster of Franciscans International, Rochester, MN
Echota Cherokee Nation, Fort Washington, MD
Ecological Farming Association, Soquel, CA
Edible San Diego, San Diego, CA
Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC
Equinox Farm, Shirley, IN
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago, IL
Fair World Project, Portland, OR
Family Farm Defenders, Madison, WI
Farm Aid, Cambridge, MA
Farm to Table – New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM
Farm to Table Food Services, Oakland, CA
FarmBillPrimer.org, Baltimore, MD
Farmer Jane, Sebastopol, CA
Farmers on the Move, Battle Creek, MI
Farms Not Arms, Petaluma, CA
Farmworker Association of Florida, Inc., Apopka, FL
Farmworkers Center, El Paso, TX
Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, Lemont Furnace, PA
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, Atlanta, GA
Feeding America San Diego, San Diego, CA
Florida Certified Organic Growers & Consumers (FOG), Gainesville, FL
Food and You, West Des Moines, IA
Food Chain Workers Alliance, Los Angeles, CA
Food Democracy NOW, Seattle, WA
Food For All, Buffalo, NY
Food System Economic Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI
Food, Health and Environmental Justice Coalition, Kansas City, KS
For Chicana Chicano Studies Foundation, Northridge, CA
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, La Crosse, WI
FRESHFARM Markets, Washington, DC
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM, Inc.), Fresno, CA
Georgia Organics, Atlanta, GA
Grassroots International, Boston, MA
Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, Grand Rapids, MI
Green Bee Soda, Brunswick, ME
Green For All, Washington, DC
Greene County Democrat (weekly newspaper), Eutaw, AL
GrowFood.org, Mount Vernon, WA
Haitian International Youth Leadership Institute Inc., Shannon, NC
Hazon, San Francisco, CA
Health Care Without Harm, Reston, VA
Hill Connections, Chaseburg, WI
Hmong National Development, Inc., Washington, DC
Hour Children, LIC, NY
Housing Assistance Council, Washington, DC
Hunger Action Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Hunger Action Network of New York State, New York, NY
Indian Nations Conservation Alliance, Twin Bridges, MT
Inland Mexican Heritage, Joshua Tree, CA
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, MN
Institute for Community Engagement, Las Cruces, NM
Interfaith Community Services, Escondido, CA
Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative, Sebastopol, CA
Intertribal Agriculture Council, Billings, MT
Iowa Environmental Council, Des Moines, IA
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore, MD
Kentucky Resources Council, Inc., Frankfort, KY
Kikandwa Environmental Association, Kampala, WI
La Semilla Food Center, Las Cruces, NM
Land Stewardship Project, Minneapolis, MN
Latinos in Agriculture Leaders Conference, San Antonio, TX
Lideres Campesinas, Oxnard, CA
Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service, New York, NY
Live Real, Boston, MA
Local Food Hub, Charlottesville, VA
Local2Global Advocates for Justice, Kansas City, KS
Local Matters, Columbus, OH
Long Island Cares, Inc.–The Harry Chapin Food Bank, Hauppauge, NY
Los Jardines Institute (The Gardens Institute), Albuquerque, NM
LTV Productions Corp., Saugus, MA
Maine Rural Partners, Orono, ME
Maria Hines Restaurants, Seattle, WA
Maryknoll Affiliates Mexico, Silver City, NM
Maryknoll Society, Ossining, NY
Maternity of Mary Church, St. Paul, MN
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy, WI
Michigan Food and Farming Systems, East Lansing, MI
Michigan Land Use Institute, Traverse City, MI
Michigan Young Farmer Coalition, Troy, MI
Minnesota Food Association, Marine on St Croix, MN
Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, Jackson, MS
National Catholic Rural Life Conference, Des Moines, IA
National Family Farm Coalition, Washington, DC
National Hmong American Farmers, Inc., Fresno, CA
National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association, Washington, DC
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Washington, DC
National Young Farmers Coalition, Tivoli, NY
Native American Task Group Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Paul, MN
New Mexico Acequia Association, Santa Fe, NM
New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council, Santa Fe, NM
North American Farm Alliance, Windsor, OH
North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project, Durham, NC
North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, Tillery, NC
North Coast Opportunities, Ukiah, CA
Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, Deerfield, MA
Northeast Organic Farming Association – Interstate Council, Stillwater, NY
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, Rochester, NY
Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG), New Paltz, NY
Northern New Mexico Stockmans Association, Espanola, NM
Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, Eugene, OR
Northwest Farm Bill Action Group, Seattle, WA
Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network, Traverse City, MI
NY Small Scale Food Processors’ Association, New York
NYC Foodscape, New York, NY
OFARM, Inc., Brussels, WI
Office for Human Dignity – Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Romeoville, IL
Office of Social Justice, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Grand Rapids, MI
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, Columbus, OH
Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project, Oklahoma City, OK
One in Ten, San Diego, CA
Operation Spring Plant, Inc., Oxford, NC
Oregon Tilth, Corvallis, OR
Organic Consumers Association, Finland, MN
Organic Valley, La Farge, WI
Paradigm Permaculture Coalition, Prescott, AZ
Pearlstone Center, Reisterstown, MD
Pesticide Action Network, Oakland, CA
Place Matters: San Joaquin Valley, Fresno, CA
PLBA Housing Development Corporation, Gainesville, AL
Practical Farmers of Iowa, Ames, IA
Pululu Farm, Arroyo Seco, NM
Rio Grande Community Development Corporation, Albuquerque, NM
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, IL
Rooted In Community, Berkeley, CA
Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, Pittsboro, NC
Rural Advancement Fund, Orangeburg, SC
Rural Coalition/Coalicion Rural, Washington, DC
Rural Development Leadership Network, New York, NY
Sacramento Hunger Coalition, Sacramento, CA
San Diego 1in10, San Diego, CA
San Diego Community Garden Network (SDCGN), San Diego, CA
San Diego Hunger Coalition, San Diego, CA
San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, San Francisco, CA
San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition, Alamosa, CO
School Food FOCUS National Office, New York, NY
Sembrando Semillas San Luis, San Luis, CO
Sharon L Yeago, LLC, High Springs, FL
Silas H. Hunt CDC, Texarkana, AR
Silver Lake Conference Center, Sharon, CT
Single Payer New York, Ithaca, NY
Slow Food California, Sacramento, CA
Slow Food Orange Count, Laguna Beach, CA
Slow Food USA, New York, NY
Social Concerns Office, Diocese of Austin, Austin, TX
SOLAR, Chapparal, NM
South Valley Regional Association of Acequias (SVRAA), Albuquerque, NM
Southeastern African-American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON), Savannah, GA
Southern New Mexico Small Farmers Coop, Chamberino, NM
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Fayetteville, AR
St. Austin Catholic Parish, Austin, TX
St. Leo Catholic Church, Tacoma, WA
St. Luke’s Church, Bronx, NY
St. Mary’s Food Pantry, New York, NY
St. Raphael Parish Social Ministry, East Meadow, NY
Surco, El Paso, TX
Sustainable and Organic Agricultural Resources (SOLAR), Chaparral, NM
Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA), Los Angeles, CA
Sustainable Living Project, Potsdam, NY
Sustainable Living Systems, Victor, MT
Taos County Economic Development Corp, Taos, NM
TCTS Global, LLC, Dickens, IA
Texas/Mexico Border Coalition, San Isidro, TX
The Cornucopia Institute, Cornucopia, WI
The Global Action Research Center, San Diego, CA
The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, San Diego, CA
Tilth Producers of Washington, Seattle, WA
Town of Atrisco Grant Merced, Atrisco, NM
Torres Farm, Taos, NM
Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, MA
United Farmers USA, Manning, SC
Victory Garden Foundation, Berkeley, CA
Victory Gardens San Diego, San Diego, CA
Virginia Association for Biological Farming, Lexington, VA
Visiones Photography & Media Communications, Albuquerque, NM
Walker Memorial Baptist Church, Bronx, NY
Washington State Farmers Market Association, Seattle, WA
Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network, Mount Vernon, WA
West Side Campaign Against Hunger, New York, NY
Western Center on Law and Poverty, Los Angeles, CA
Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), Billings, MT
Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Austin, NV
Wholesome Wave, Bridgeport, CT
WhyHunger, New York, NY
Wild Farm Alliance, Watsonville, CA
Winston County Self Help Cooperative, Louisville, MS
Women, Food and Agriculture Network, Ames, IA
Workers Collaborative, Chicago, IL
Working Families Party, Irvington, NY
World Farmers, Inc., Lancaster, MA
