TO THE EDITOR:
On July 11, the House passed a version of the farm bill that removed nutritional and food stamp assistance and other key protections, all in the name of budget cuts.
With only nine more legislative days before the farm bill expires, the time crunch that will be difficult, if not impossible, to beat, even though this deadline comes after a nine-month extension.
The drastic spending cuts are strongly opposed by the Democrats in both the House and the Senate, with the Senate going so far as to say that they will not have any part in a farm bill that does not include food stamps.
The House’s version also cuts the Conservation Stewardship Program that helps conserve natural resources and includes anti-farmer provisions that would end regulation for fair and competitive agricultural markets.
Although the House passed an unsupportive bill, we want to encourage the Senate to pass a bill that would lend the greatest support to local farmers like the ones we value in North Carolina.
The Senate bill has higher funding for rural development, crop insurance, conservation accountability and organic farms.
So much is up in the air for passing the new five-year bill.
But we need to ensure that the local farmers and people that need the support the most receive it, and partisan arguments don’t get in the way with the goals of nourishing people with healthy local food.
