House Passes Farm Bill--Immediate Hunger Relief For Vermont
For Immediate Release For more information, contact:
Judy Stermer
Office: 802-477-4108
Cell: 734-604-0096
house passes farm bill – immediate hunger relief for vermont
With enough votes to override a presidential veto on the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress sends bill to the White House
Barre, VT – May 14, 2008— Today, the House of Representatives passed the 2008 Farm Bill conference report with [enough votes to override a threatened presidential veto]. The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation on Thursday. The Farm Bill (HR 2419) makes “significant farm policy reforms, protects the safety net for all of America’s food producers, addressees important infrastructure needs for specialty crops, increases funding to feed our nation’s poor, and enhances support for important conservation initiatives,” wrote a coalition of 520 farm, conservation, nutrition, consumer and religious groups – including the Vermont Foodbank – who have urged lawmakers to sign the farm bill conference report.
The Farm Bill comes at a time when the Vermont Foodbank and food banks nationwide are experiencing a dramatic decline in the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) surplus commodity purchases by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In Vermont, surplus commodity donations fell from a value of $1,036,288 in 2003 to under $300,000 in 2006. The reductions in USDA food donations have occurred at the same time that requests for food assistance have increased dramatically throughout Vermont.
Nearly three-fourths of the funding in the Farm Bill goes to nutrition assistance programs. The nutrition title of the Farm Bill addresses rising food prices by investing an additional $10.36 billion in nutrition programs over 10 years – the highest level of new support in history – including $1.26 billion in increased funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), with a $50 million in food purchases for 2008 to immediately address shortages at food pantries and shelves. “This new investment in food assistance is coming when more Vermonters are struggling to put food on the table and turning to church pantries and food shelves for help,” said Doug O’Brien, CEO of the Vermont Foodbank. The TEFAP increases will mean nearly doubling the amount of TEFAP for Vermont from $181,902 in 2007 to an estimated $350,000 this year.
“This is historic legislation,” said Doug O’Brien, “the Farm Bill nutrition investments will help an estimated 23,000 low-income Vermonters through increased food purchasing power and provide $17 million in new food assistance spending in our state over the next five years.”
The legislation increases the food stamp allotments and stops the erosion of food stamp benefits caused by rising food costs which have risen to the highest rate in 18 years. The bill also increases the minimum benefit – which until now had been unchanged for three decades, creating new work supports related to child care expenses, and encouraging savings for education and retirement for food stamp beneficiaries. The provisions strengthening the Food Stamp Program will help provide an additional $15 million in food stamp benefits for needy Vermonters over the next five years and an additional $2 million for TEFAP commodity purchases for food shelves, pantries and community kitchens.
In addition to the food stamp benefit increases and food purchase support, the Farm Bill contains a new grant program authored by Senator Leahy to support rural food banks and food shelves. The Emergency Food Program Grants support efforts to improve the infrastructure and efficiency of charities that serve low-income families in rural areas and encourages the procurement of local farm products for food banks and food shelves.
“Improvements in TEFAP and the substantial increases in the Food Stamp Program will help tens of thousands of low-income Vermonters that are really struggling right now. With increased fuel and utility costs, rising food prices and anxiety about jobs and homeownership, these changes are critical to ensuring that we have an adequate nutrition safety net for low-income Vermonters,” said Doug O’Brien. “This Farm Bill strengthens Vermont’s farmers and strengthens our communities through substantial investments in healthy food for children and nutrition assistance for needy families. The Vermont Foodbank and our partners in the state will continue our work to end hunger in Vermont, but we can not do it alone. We are deeply grateful to our entire Congressional delegation for moving us closer to accomplishing this important mission.”
###The Vermont Foodbank … –inser
