Take Action: Demand a Better Farm Bill

I just received this urgent alert from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) about the new farm bill:

The farm bill – legislation that makes all the difference when it comes to your food – is about to come up for debate on the Senate floor. This is your chance to turn the farm bill into a healthier food bill, and we need you to stand with us now.

As it’s currently written, this bill will give away billions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies to corporate mega-farms while doing too little for healthy food programs.

Yesterday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced that she will offer an amendment to cut crop insurance subsidies, restore cuts to funding for food stamps and redirect $500 million to healthy food programs.

We need you to stand with the Environmental Working Group and 70 other organizations and food leaders like Michael Pollan and Mario Batali in urging the Senate to invest more in healthy foods, reject cuts to nutrition programs and cut egregious subsidies. Your senators need to know that you want a healthy food bill right now – before they vote.

The farm bill decides what your tax dollars will and wont’ subsidize, and as it stands it’s industrial and factory farms who will once again benefit from this legislation. The farm bill comes up for renewal every five years or so, so this legislation is going to have lasting effects on our food future. EWG has made it super simple to send a letter to your Congresspeople urging them to support Senator Gillibrand’s amendment.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by mike138