Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of HR 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007, better known as the Farm Bill.  This measure, which reauthorizes federal agriculture and nutrition programs for five years, reflects Rhode Island’s priorities: protecting our farmers and surrounding environment and caring for the most vulnerable members of our society.

There has been much discussion about reforming the Farm Bill, particularly with regard to how payments are structured to producers of certain commodities like cotton, rice and sugar.  HR 2419 begins this process by lowering the annual adjusted gross income of farmers eligible for subsidies from $2.5 million to $750,000 and also excludes farmers making more than $500,000 from non-farm income.  This structure will prevent millionaires from receiving farm subsidy benefits, and will also make payments transparent.  While I believe we should go further with reform, I look forward to building on this restructuring in future legislation.

This legislation increases funding by nearly $8 billion for the conservation title, which includes programs important to Rhode Island, such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program.  I am also pleased that HR 2419 includes funding for specialty crops, which will benefit our fruit, vegetable and nursery crop farmers.  These farmers, who make up a large percentage of Rhode Island’s farming landscape, will now receive equal assistance and access to conservation programs. 

HR 2419 includes over $10 billion in increased funding for the nutrition title, which includes food stamps and other programs aimed to combat hunger and improve nutrition for children, the elderly and low-income Americans.  Unfortunately, these members of our society face a stigma when they realize they must turn to the government for assistance, and this Farm Bill works to end that by renaming the Food Stamp Program as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and replacing food stamp coupons with Electronic Benefit Transfer cards.  This bill also reauthorizes programs such as the Community Food Projects program, which awards grants to non-profit groups that establish community food projects targeted to low-income individuals, and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which provides vouchers for low-income seniors to purchase fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets.   

This measure also increases funding for school nutrition programs, including the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which will help purchase fruits, vegetables and nuts, and create more avenues for produce to flow from local farmers to schools.  This is especially important in Rhode Island, where state lawmakers and local organizations have already taken the initiative in improving the eating habits of our students.  In 2007, 26 of 38 RI school districts participated in the Farm to School Program, where produce is purchased from local farms.  This Farm Bill will help those school districts continue in a healthy direction. 

HR 2419 also helps northeast dairy farmers, including those in Rhode Island, by extending the Milk Income Loss Contract Program, which compensates dairy producers when domestic milk prices fall below a certain level.  Further, this measure encourages the expansion of renewable energy research and production, contains a new section for horticulture and organic agriculture, and includes funding to make sure our food supply is safe and stable. 

Madam Speaker, this is not a perfect bill; however, this Farm Bill helps farmers meet growing environmental challenges, gives consumers more healthy food choices, and promotes critical renewable energy development.  It was also imperative that the Farm Bill take into consideration the country’s current economic state.  This bill will help stock food banks across our country by increasing funding to the Emergency Food Assistance Program by $1.26 billion.  I look forward to passing this measure into law.