Farm Bill 2012

Did you know that if everyone in the country wanted to eat their daily recommendations of fruit and vegetables we wouldn’t have nearly enough? See the big picture of American farming in this infographic.

With the bill on the Senate floor, Mario Batali, Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and nearly 70 other food luminaries have signed a historic letter to Congress.

Rep. Chellie Pingree introduced the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act to make sure small-scale agriculture doesn’t get left out of this year’s farm bill.

In its new draft of the farm bill, the House of Representatives is pushing for $16.5 billion in food stamp cuts.

On top of huge cuts to food stamps and big giveaways to Big Ag, the just-passed House farm bill also includes a special provision to protect the biotech industry.

Sustainable food advocates don’t like the farm bills drafted by the House or the Senate, but they’re pushing Congress to pass a final bill before the current one runs out Sept. 30 anyway.

As lawmakers return from their August recess, and the current farm bill gets dangerously close to expiring, a whole host of sustainable food policies are at risk of disappearing.

When Congress passed a nine-month farm bill extension as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations, it disappointed sustainable food advocates around the country.