STATEMENT ON RECONCILIATION BILL
Dear Chairs Stabenow and Scott,
As food and farm policy advocates, we strongly support the investments proposed in the current reconciliation package and oppose any reductions in the size and scope of these food, nutrition, farm, forestry, renewable energy, research, and rural development investments.
In particular, we strongly support the investments designed to simplify and increase year-round assistance to low-income school children; help schools provide and expand access to healthier meals; provide debt relief for those most at risk; invest in farming practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon; expand sustainable farming research; and support renewable energy development on our farms. The programs that result from this spending bill will be stronger with equity central to their design, application, accessibility, and impact.
We urge you to maintain these investments at the proposed levels. They will reduce hunger, improve nutrition, address long-standing inequities in our food and farm system, create thousands of jobs in our rural communities, and meet growing farmer demand for conservation funding.
Sincerely,
21st Century Youth Leadership Movement
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Border Agricultural Workers Project
California Association of Food Banks
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Certified Naturally Grown
Chef Ann Foundation
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Community Health Improvement Partners Farm to Institution Center
DC Greens
Earthjustice
Environmental Working Group
Fair Food Network
Family Farm Action Alliance
Family Farm Defenders
Farm Aid
Farm Generations Cooperative
Farm to Table New Mexico
Farmers Market Coalition
Farms to Grow, Inc.
Farmworker Association of Florida
Food Research & Action Center
FoodCorps
Foodshed Capital
Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities
Hazon
Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor (HEAL) Food Alliance
Healthy Babies Bright Futures
Hunger Free America
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Intertribal Agriculture Council
Island Grown Initiative
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Land For Good
Land Loss Prevention Project
Maine Farmland Trust
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
National Center for Appropriate Technology
National Farm to School Network
National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
National Young Farmers Coalition
Natural Resources Defense Council
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York
Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides
Nourish Colorado
Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network
Oregon Farm to School & School Garden Network
Organic Farming Research Foundation
Rooted
Roots of Change
Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI-USA)
Rural Advancement Fund of the National Sharecropper Fund
Rural Coalition
Rural Development Leadership Network
San Diego Hunger Coalition
Slow Food USA
Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders
Sustainable Food Center
Sustainable Iowa Land Trust
The Common Market
The Food Trust
The James Beard Foundation
Union of Concerned Scientists
Virginia Association for Biological Farming
Wallace Center
Wellness in Schools
Whole Kids Foundation
Wholesome Wave