Friday, May 9, 2008

Take Action: Farm and Food Bill Moves to Final Vote

American Farmland Trust
Housing and Hayfields - Corbis Photo

 

Tell Congress to Pass the 2008 Farm and Food Bill

Dear Agriculture,

Farmer's Market bounty
Tell Congress to pass the farm bill and secure our gains for conservation, farmland protection, local foods, subsidy reform and nutrition.

Take Action Now

Yesterday Congress announced their final farm bill agreement, and there is good news for conservation, nutrition, local foods and the subsidy reform you’ve helped us champion—the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program.

Your continued support is critical to help get it passed.

ArrowCall Congress now and ask your legislators to support the bill in next week's floor votes!

Your U.S. Senators:

  • Mark Pryor - (202) 224-2353
  • Blanche Lambert Lincoln - (202) 224-4843

Your U.S. Representative:

  • Vic Snyder - (202) 225-2506

Optionally, send an e-mail.

Although not all of the details have been released, based on what we know from reports and discussions with policy makers, we stand to make real gains to improve our environment, make local foods more widely available, protect farm and ranch land, and dramatically increase food assistance for families struggling with rising food costs. We’ve also fought hard for ACRE, and won a victory for inclusion of this program that is less costly for taxpayers and moves farm policy away from politically set target prices and toward a market-oriented program.

Thank you for your continued support! But our work is not finished.  

Next week, the House and Senate will each vote on the final bill before sending it to the President to sign. President Bush has indicated he will veto the bill because of cost implications and subsidy provisions.

We agree there are areas for improvement. But there is no question this bill is better than the alternative—extension of the 2002 bill.  

The question is do you throw out program improvements for an uncertain outcome in a year, or more, from now? Or do you lock in the funding and program improvements we’ve achieved now, and build on them in the future? We believe the current package has many strengths that should not be lost and help set the stage for progress in the future.

Click here for more details (PDF) on the achievements we’ve made and what we stand to lose if the bill is not passed. Help move farm and food policy forward, and tell Congress to support the farm bill.

Thank you once again for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Daukas Signature

 


Jimmy Daukas

Farm and Food Policy Campaign Director,
American Farmland Trust

Jimmy Daukas



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