Farm Bill Should Support Both Farmers and Hungry Americans

The two farm bill options presented by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson (D-Minn.) show the committee’s continued resistance to meaningful reform.

One option — extending the 2002 farm bill — blesses the status quo. Under the current system, 1 million of the 1.3 million direct payment recipients get less than $5,000 in assistance.

Both options rely on potential offsets outside the committee to fund the primary safety net for 35 million Americans — a third of them children — who live in households that struggle to put food on the table.

Both options put people who need help the most at the bottom of the priority list. There is no guaranteed source of funding for federal nutrition programs, and not the slightest mention of rural development.

It’s not just that the wealthiest nation on earth puts up with hunger within our borders.

It’s not just that the region with the greatest concentration of commodity payments per acre is the same region with the greatest concentration of persistently high poverty in our nation.

Bread for the World and other faith-based advocacy groups believe that we can do better. Congress should be able to come up with a farm bill that provides sufficient and equitable support for farmers of modest means without shortchanging hungry people.