Helen DombalisNational League of CitiesMarch 13, 2012

Turning the Food Desert into an Oasis: Prospects for Improving Food Access and Public

Health through Federal Policy

Who we are and what we do

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) is an alliance of grassroots organizations that advocates for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities.

More than 90 member organizations

Policy and grassroots work

Issue committees including Marketing, Food Systems, and Rural Development

Farm Bill Basics

Massive piece of legislation

Written by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees

Reauthorized every 5-7 years

Up for reauthorization in 2012

2008 Farm Bill: 15 “Titles”

I: Commodity II: Conservation III: Trade IV: Nutrition V: Credit VI: Rural Development VII: Research VIII: Forestry IX: Energy X: Horticulture and

Organic

XI: Livestock XII: Crop Insurance XIII: Commodity Futures XIV: Miscellaneous XV: Trade and Tax Provisions

2008 Farm Bill spending: $284 billion total for 5 years

$189 billion: SNAP (food stamps) and nutrition

programs $41 billion: Commodity programs $22 billion: Crop insurance $24 billion: Conservation programs $8 billion for all else Organic programs, including research, etc. received under

$0.5 billion total

Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 1773, H.R. 3286)

Introduced Nov. 1, 2011 by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1)

A “marker bill” spanning 10 Farm Bill Titles and including 35 provisions

Currently has 11 Senate and 68 House co-sponsors

Over 260 organizations currently endorsing the bill

Local and Regional Food Systems

Skyrocketing consumer demand for local food that agricultural producers and entrepreneurs are striving to meet

Despite these opportunities, significant infrastructure, marketing, and information barriers are limiting growth

The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act will: Create economic opportunities for farmers and ranchers Improve processing and distribution infrastructure Expand access to healthy food for consumers Provide research, training, and information that will ensure

success for local food entrepreneurs

Local Food and Urban Communities

Production of locally marketed food is more likely to occur on small farms located in or near metropolitan counties

Urban-rural linkages Food deserts Urban agriculture Expanding USDA Rural Development

programs

Title IV: Nutrition Improving SNAP participant access to farmers markets,

CSAs, and other direct marketing outlets by creating a level playing field for electronic benefit transfer (EBT)

Improving SNAP Education and Outreach by encouraging states to use direct marketing outlets as a venue for nutrition education activities

Funding the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program at $25 million a year

Providing $10 million for the Community Food Projects program

Allowing schools the option to use a portion of their AMS school lunch commodity dollars or DoD Fresh program dollars for the purchase of local and regional foods

Encouraging States to include community-supported agriculture programs as eligible to participate in the Farmers Market Nutrition Program

Title VI: Rural Development

Increasing the Business and Industry (B&I) guaranteed loan program funding set-aside for local and regionally produced agriculture products and food enterprises and provide authority for non-rural areas for local food enterprises, including production, processing, distribution, marketing, and retail enterprises

Providing authority for local and regional food system funding (“food hubs”) under Rural Business Opportunity Grants, Rural Business Enterprise Grants, and Community Facility Grants & Loans

Funding Value-Added Producer Grants at an annual amount $30 million and expanding the program to include food hubs and outreach to underserved states and communities

Title X: Horticulture and Organic Agriculture

Establish and fund a Local Marketing Promotion Program – Farmers Market Promotion Program plus “scaled up” activities like aggregation, processing, storage, marketing, and distributiojn

Increase funding for Specialty Crop Block Grants and ensure a portion of the projects serve local and regional markets

Other pieces of legislation

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 (S. 1850, H.R. 3236)

Expanding Access to Farmers Markets Act (S. 1593) Healthy Food Financing Initiative (S. 1926, H.R. 3535) Community-Supported Agriculture Promotion Act (S.

1414, H.R. 4012) Community Agriculture Development and Jobs Act

(H.R. 3225) Growing opportunities for Agriculture and Responding

to Markets Act of 2011 (S. 1888) – “GO FARM” Fresh Regional Eating for Schools and Health Act of

2011 (S. 2016) – “FRESH Act” Rep. Fudge’s forthcoming urban agriculture bill

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Omnibus legislation reauthorized about every five years: Healthy,

Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 Includes a new Farm to School competitive grants program, for

which $5 million in mandatory annual funding will begin October 1, 2012

USDA Fresh Produce Pilot Program Michigan and Florida To explore alternatives to Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh

program

Farm to Cafeteria Conference, August 2-5 in Burlington, Vermont

Farm to School

For more information

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Helen DombalisPolicy Associate, NSAC

hdombalis@sustainableagriculture.net

http://sustainableagriculture.net/http://sustainableagriculture.net/our-work/local-

food-bill/