On today’s Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about the $500 billion dollar farm bill, which will set US food and farm policies over the next five years. The bill, which recently passed the Senate and is moving to the House, expands government subsidies and cuts billions of dollars from food stamps and other nutrition assistance programs. What are the bill’s implications for the nation’s diet and food supply? It’s Your Call, with Matt Martin and you.
Guests:
Kari Hamershlag, senior food policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group
Jerry Hagstrom, agricultural journalist for the National Journal
Dan Imhoff, researcher, author of Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill
Web Resources:
National Journal: White House Threatens Veto as House Takes Up Farm Bill
Washington Post: The Senate is voting on a $955 billion farm bill. Here’s what’s in it.
Sacramento Bee: Viewpoints: Farm bill would be a disaster for conservation, California
Watershed Media's guide to the Farm Bill: Food Fight
In response to a listener's question about the Farm Bill's potential effect on Meals on Wheels:
The Farm Bill provides funding for the nutritional assistance program SNAP, popularly known as food stamps. Funds from SNAP are intended to supplement the cash that low-income people have available to pay for food. In some cases SNAP benefits can be used to pay for food via other programs like Meals on Wheels or at some shelters. Cuts to SNAP via the new Farm Bill are worrisome to many because other programs, like Meals on Wheels, have already suffered deep funding cuts as a result of sequestration. The version of the Farm Bill approved by the Senate does not specifically mention Meals on Wheels – click here for a useful summary of the Senate bill.