FARM & FOOD: Congress weighs costs and benefits in order to update the bill that feeds the nation.

Rising food costs and healthy harvests are a boon to farmers these days, but the nation’s poor are feeling a pinch when paying for food. With the farm bill on the table, some worry Congress may decide to cut aid to farmers, while others worry about food aid for the poor.

What is the Farm Bill?

The U.S. farm bill is legislation worked out by Congress every five years to address the nation’s food and agricultural requirements.

The current bill expired last October while the House and Senate worked on its replacement. They’re close to agreeing on a $290 billion version of the bill. Once passed, it goes to President Bush to be signed into law.

The new farm bill proposes to do much:

• Increase food stamp and other nutrition programs by about $2 billion each year to help U.S. poor cope with rising food costs.
• Decrease annual farm subsidies by just $40 million to appease critics who say farmers are making record profits and do not need to be subsidized.
• Cut taxes up to $1.8 billion for agricultural enterprises.
• Provide $3.8 billion of disaster relief to farmers who lose crops to weather such as hurricanes, snowstorms or droughts.
• Provide some foreign food aid to people in other countries struggling to pay for food exported from the United States.
• Require imported foods to be labeled as such to address food safety concerns.
• Clean up agricultural pollution in Chesapeake Bay for $405 million.
• Reduce tax cuts for corn-based ethanol growers.
• Provide $1.6 billion of incentives to conserve or invest in rural farmlands.

What Falls Under the Farm Bill?

The farm bill directly affects the following:

• Farmers who may have to adjust to lower government subsidies, and/or benefit from disaster relief
• Agricultural policies that dictate how food is grown and distributed within the United States and imported from and exported to foreign countries
• Land conservation of rural farmlands for agriculture
• Rural development of land into farms or as developments
• Energy crops like corn used for biofuels that require land used to grow food
• Nutrition programs like food stamps that help low-income people afford food

How Much Do Subsidies Weigh in on the Farm Bill?

Although critics of farm subsidies believe the proposed farm bill is not evenhanded, it does take steps to reform farm subsidy policies while expanding the food stamp program. Said Senate Agriculture Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), “All in all, this is a balanced agreement.”

Copyright © 2009 Informify

Sources

"Tentative Deal Reached in Congress on Farm Bill" (New York Times)

"Negotiations On Farm Bill Add Billions For Nutrition" (Washington Post)

"Farm-Bill Pact Adds $10 Billion for Nutrition" (Wall Street Journal)

Question for Readers:

Do you think the government should take some of the money it spends on subsidizing farmers and put it into free food programs for the poor?