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.
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