Posted February 7, 2014
Co-chairs of AGree, a food and agricultural policy
group, are urging Congress to try a new approach to food and agricultural
policy, according to a Roll Call article available here.
Drafting, negotiating, and passing the 2014 farm bill
was a long, tense process. While the
bill includes several important achievements, AGree says it could have done
more – “Food and agriculture systems in the United States and around the world
face fundamental long-term challenges posed by resource scarcity, population
growth, climate change, invasive pests, pathogens and diseases, rising consumer
incomes in low-and middle-income countries, and shifts in relative economic
power.”
AGree suggests “transformative restructuring” for food
and agricultural policy with a Food, Farming and Healthy Environment Act which
would contain “innovative and cost-effective solutions to tomorrow’s
challenges.” The Act would incorporate
nutrition and food; environmental management and farming and ranching; local
food systems and international trade; research and information systems; urban
and rural interests; and certainty for workers with the importance of a skilled
labor force.”
AGree will announce more specific recommendations in
the coming months.
For more information on farm bills, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
