Well Democrats, it’s Monday once again. I was casting about, looking for a subject for this week’s column and the idea struck me, why not the Farm Bill! Given that our own GT Thompson is Chair of the Agricultural Committee in the House of Representatives, and that is where the Farm Bill emanates from, I thought, why not. So, I started to do some research. Browsing through the Department of Agriculture web site I found the 2024 budget summary and started there. What I found was a broad sweeping document that included 12 Titles and covered subjects from cattle indemnification to land use questions to crop insurance to wet land restoration to loans to food safety to forestry to organic farming to SNAP and school lunch to urban agriculture and farmers markets.
It is a large sweeping document that budgets billions of dollars to a myriad of programs through grants and direct funding over a period of four to five years. The current bill expired in 2023. A new bill could not be passed, and it was extended to 2024. It does not look like it will pass this year and so we will live with another extension into 2025. The bulk of the money spent on crop subsidies, biofuels and crop insurance seems to benefit Big Ag and biofuel producers rather than family farming. This segment is increasingly being held by foreign investors and there is a crisis in bankruptcies with small and family farms. I do think the new Farm Bill could address family farming in a more direct manner.
I attended a Zoom webinar about the Farm Bill last week. It was skeptical about biofuels because money spent there had a negative impact on carbon dioxide production. However, I don’t know how that fits into our energy independence, so I can make no judgement. I did get the feeling that there should be more support for organic farming and local food distribution from sources like small local farms, community gardens and urban agriculture. Benefits will come in the form of fresher food and a better carbon footprint from distribution.
The last thing I want to touch on are SNAP, WIC, and school lunch. Because this is a bill coming out of a Republican controlled committee, these are the programs, the ones that directly help people and not corporate coffers, that are always targeted for cuts. Yes, billions of dollars are spent on these programs, but we are only reaching about 60% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch and half that for breakfast. SNAP is reaching about 89% of eligible households.
The main complaint I hear about these programs is “when I am at the grocery store, I am behind a person with a huge cart full of food who pays with SNAP, and I can barely afford the few items I am buying! These people should just get a job.” I believe that attitude exposes selfishness and greed and a tendency for people to look down their noses at others of lesser means. In this time of inflation, we should be looking to expand these programs to include working people who may just need a little help to maintain their ability to feed their families, and not to make it harder. In reality, the money spent here is not wasted. It serves to buy more farm products, thus supporting farmers and processors. It is spent in grocery stores all over this nation, thus supporting jobs. All this in a nation that literally wastes about 40% of food production annually. We will only change this if we vote out GT Thompson, and/or capture the House of Representatives with a Democratic majority in November and make the Agriculture Committee a majority Democratic one.
On another subject, John Adduci, myself, and our wives had the privilege to be invited to and to attend an event in Pittsburgh yesterday. Dr. Jill Biden spoke in support of reproductive rights. You should know that today is the second anniversary of the fall of Roe v Wade. I am predicting that this issue will the most important issue with Women voters this fall. Women are the largest voting block in the country, slightly over 50%. This issue will transcend skin color, ethnicity, age, education, marital status, career choice, religion, or any other metric you may try to pigeonhole women into. Republicans are attacking the basic rights of choice and privacy. We must vote and vote in numbers.
Participate, Donate, Vote.
John Huot, JeffDems Chair
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CALENDAR
* June 29 – July 6: Festival in the Park – Barclay Square, Punxsutawney
– We will, once again, be an exhibitor and will need volunteers to “man” the JeffDems booth.
* July 14 – July 20: Jefferson County Fair – County Fairgrounds, Brookville
– We will, once again, be an exhibitor and will need volunteers to “man” the JeffDems booth.
* August 23 – 24: Demstock 2024 @ The Butler County Farm Show Grounds
– More info will be coming soon. We may be purchasing a County Sponsorship, which will enable us to exhibit and receive an allotment of tickets for Saturday 8/23, and one overnight camping pass. Individual tickets can be purchased by going to demstock.net
* Picnic @ Nick’s: Date TBD
*Sept 6: Jefferson-Clearfield Dinner – Luigi’s Villa, DuBois
-Candidates and good food, 5PM Cocktail Hour, cash bar, 6PM dinner. Tickets will be available at Festival
