My Opinion: Farm bill critical for Vermont

October 06, 2007

By Doug O'Brien

Recently, volunteers from local food shelves met in Rutland to share their stories. They told of many new families knocking on their doors for help. The challenges faced by these volunteers are becoming all too common in Vermont -- more and more working families, seniors, and single moms with kids in tow are turning to the local food shelf to keep food on the table. And these reports aren't limited to Rutland. In Burlington, the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of families requesting food. Fortunately, legislation now pending in Congress would give a hand up to struggling families and provide economic stimulus for Vermont.

The Senate is expected to take up consideration of the 2007 farm bill in the next few weeks. Sen. Leahy and Sen. Sanders have pushed their colleagues hard to get moving on a bill, but funding issues and disputes related to disaster funding and crop subsidies have tied the leadership in knots and the bill languishes.

Obviously, farm legislation matters to Vermont. Our state's economy and culture are inexorably tied to the land and its bounty. From traditional dairies to small-scale organic farms, Vermont has a lot at stake in the farm bill. But too often we forget that farm bills are about much more than farming and conservation programs. The pending farm bill sets funding and policies for food assistance programs that directly affect the health and well-being of thousands of the most vulnerable people in our state. In fact, most of the farm bill spending -- more than 70 percent over the next five years -- goes to nutrition and food assistance programs for low-income families.

Back in July, the House passed their version of the farm bill -- the Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act. The House farm bill -- imperfect as it is -- provides more than $4 billion in new spending for nutrition assistance programs over five years. The extra spending allows for a whole host of positive changes, including an increase to the food stamp standard deduction and minimum benefit -- unchanged at $10 for nearly three decades -- and a change allowing needy seniors to hold on to retirement savings and still be eligible for food stamps. In short, the House version of the farm bill does a lot to help hungry families here and around the nation.

What does this mean for Vermont? The answer is less hunger and more economic stimulus for our state. Nearly 50,000 low-income Vermonters would receive an additional $1 million in food purchasing power next year. And if food stamp enrollments increase just 5 percent, the estimated economic benefits for our state would reach nearly $4 million annually, not to mention the improved health and well-being of struggling families and their children.

The pending farm bill also provides badly needed support for food banks and food shelves in Vermont. Last year, more than 66,000 Vermonters received food assistance from the Foodbank and its partners. Yet despite the growing need, USDA commodity donations have plummeted by more than 70 percent over the last three years and our inventories are perilously thin. The farm bill would provide Vermont with millions of pounds of new commodity food donations over the next five years.

The food assistance programs and other provisions of the farm bill are set to expire in a matter of days. Hopefully, Sens. Leahy and Sanders will prevail and the Senate will find adequate funding for this farm bill. With the economy shaky, stagnant wages, thousands of anxious homeowners, and rising costs for fuel and food, now is not the time to dither with the nation's nutrition safety net.

Doug O'Brien of Middlesex is the CEO of the Vermont Foodbank.

October 06, 2007

Press Room