Help Advocate for a Better Farm Bill!

Young workers at small vegetable farm sorting freshly harvested green spring onions. Photo credit: Shutterstock.

By Rickey Gard Diamond
Women, Money & Democracy Committee

June 2023

The US Farm Bill is huge in size and effect. It’s only renewed every five years and this year, 2023, is when the old one expires. Advocate organizations, like Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN) and National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), have been working to educate the public about what’s at stake.

In the March eNews, we reported on the Farm Bill’s importance to WILPF’s issue committees, Earth Democracy and Women, Money & Democracy—though really, it is important to all women and people who eat. Men of corporate, industrial America have traditionally crafted the Farm Bill to better serve the biggest corporations who seek the biggest global profits.

Illegitimate corporate power and systemic racism and sexism have long been a central concern for WILPF's Women, Money & Democracy committee, and these issues matter to young and diverse farmers, too. Earth Democracy can point to the role of past farm bills in soil depletion and the subsidized use of harmful chemicals like glyphosate and paraquat.

With an aging farm population and a trend toward bigger land grabs, we are concerned about food security and good livelihoods for small farmers who grow fruits and vegetables, not just corn for ethanol and grain for export. You can learn more from my article at Ms. Magazine, “As the US Looks to Revamp the Farm Bill, Women Must Be at the Table!

Current Draft of Farm Bill Is a Step Backward

I recently asked Juliannn Salinas, who heads WFAN, for an update, after having seen that Biden’s USDA is pushing for “bipartisanship” and is calling the Farm Bill a “jobs bill.” She said there have been many closed-door meetings. They and other advocates were recently surprised by release of a US House subcommittee markup of 2024 agricultural appropriations, not expected until July.

Why closed doors and a rush? Salinas said, “The idea that the bill is now a ‘jobs bill' is so absurd it’s almost funny.” She noted the markup cut the very items that networks have been calling for. Mike Lavender at NSAC responded: “In its current form, this bill represents a consequential step backward for market access, fair competition, climate resilience, equity, and food security.”

The Senate Ag Committee is headed by Debbie Stabenow (D-Mi), the second woman ever to have this role, while the House Ag Committee is headed by MAGA election-denier Glenn Thompson (R-Pa). Talk to your local small farmer and tell your representatives what YOU want to see in the upcoming Farm Bill. The House Ag Committee has opened a public portal for feedback, as well as a portal for your member of congress to share priorities.

Need to learn more first? WFAN will be hosting “Lunch and Learn webinars” from 12-1:30 pm (Central time) in June and July. Here’s what’s coming:

• June 13 – Farm Bill and Farmworker Rights
• June 28 – Farm Bill Advocacy and Action
• July 11 – Conservation and the Farm Bill
• July 25 – Soil Health and the Farm Bill

The registration page for these webinars will going up later this week.

The WFAN website “powered by women” is a rich learning resource that An Economy of Our Own and WILPF's W$D Committee highly recommend.