Page 83 - Summer2018

for many couples) is eligible for commodity or conservation payments. that did not happen. It is still expected that the
In other words, mega-farms would not only be able to get subsidies but Senate daft will be released before the House
would be able to get far more than the true family farms. takes its vote of reconsideration, however.

COALITION WHAT NOW?
This wide-ranging list of concerns drew an equally wide-ranging Since no new amendments would be pro-
coalition together to oppose the House Farm Bill. Various groups repre- posed on the vote to reconsider, the only ques-
senting conservatives, taxpayer advocates, environmentalists, sustainable tion on the House side is a simple “yes” or "no.”
agriculture and anti-hunger advocates all urged Representatives to vote There is more potential to have an impact on the
“no.” Senate side, since their version of the bill is still
But before you assume that these substantive problems were why being shaped.
the House voted the Farm Bill down, think again. The leadership still The best action to take at this time is to call
had enough votes to pass the Farm Bill, but for an unrelated debate over both of your U.S. Senators to urge them not to
immigration. The House Freedom Caucus wanted a vote on a tough im- make the same mistakes as the House. You can
migration plan before a vote on the Farm Bill and would not settle for find out who represents you by going to www.
promises that the immigration bill would get a vote in the summer. The senate.gov/senators/contact or by calling the
defeat of the Farm Bill was due to the combination of the Democrats, Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Keep
moderate Republicans (who generally voted no because of the SNAP your discussion short and simple. Don’t try to
issues) and the Freedom Caucus. cover everything that is wrong with the bill!
To quote the film, The Princess Bride, though, the bill is only “mostly Pick the two or three issues that matter most
dead.” The House has until June 22 to reconsider the bill in its current to you, whether that’s conservation, local food
form, and the Speaker has announced that he will bring it up for a vote programs, or the PRIME Act and other reforms
again by that date. He has committed to bringing the Freedom Caucus’ mentioned in the sidebar to this article.
preferred immigration bill to the floor for a vote in the interim. But that Some readers may raise concerns that the
delay gives the broad-based opposition to the House Farm Bill the op- Farm Bill is fundamentally flawed―that, even
portunity to try to change other Republicans to “no” votes, so the ultimate if all these issues were fixed, it’s still not a
outcome is still far from certain. good bill. And I agree. The basic structure and
In the meantime, the Senate Agriculture Committee chair has made programs of the Farm Bill promote large-scale,
it clear that the Senate will move forward with its own version of the bill consolidated agriculture, mono-cropping of
in the more traditional, bipartisan fashion. There were reports that the commodity crops, feedlots for livestock, and
chairman would release his draft of the Farm Bill at the end of May, but many other problems. But changing these fun-
damentals will take time. The current Farm Bill
is effective until September 30, and if Congress
ANNOUNCEMENTS
doesn’t agree on a replacement for it, they will
NEW FILM simply pass a short-term extension of the last
Diana Rodgers is a real food nutritionist living on a working farm. bill. One way or another, the current structure
She is making a documentary called Kale vs. Cow that will defend will be perpetuated for the next few years. Our
the nutritional, environmental and ethical case for better meat. The best hope is to keep the bill from getting worse,
film is endorsed by WAPF, the Savory Institute and is Animal Welfare make what improvements we can (such as by
Approved. Contributions are tax-deductible. For further information
visit Sustainabledish.com/film. adding the PRIME Act or Checkoff reform), and
keep working to build the strength of the local,
ERRATA sustainable food movement so that we have the
We regret that we misspelled the name of author Rebecca Rust political muscle to make more fundamental
Lee on the cover of the Spring journal. Rebecca wrote the excellent changes in the next round.
article on the Cutler Protocol.

SHOPPING GUIDE UPDATES
New phone number for Fab Ferments (513) 562-7531
Contact Carolyn Graff at shoppingguide@westonprice.org with
updates and additions to the Shopping Guide.

SUMMER 2018 Wise Traditions 81