2007 Farm Bill: Small Victories in a Long Struggle

In the overall picture of global agriculture, the new farm bill doesn’t differ much from the last bill. Large agribusiness will still scoop up tens of billions of dollars in subsidies over the next four years from the pockets of U.S. taxpayers. Concentrated or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) will still be rewarded for abusing animals and workers. Amber waves of monoculture will still stretch across the overwhelming majority of America’s farmland. Overprocessed, sterilized food will still dominate most grocery shelves and most people’s diets, especially those of the poor and working class. Massive amounts of deadly toxins will still be dumped on our fields and runoff into our waters. Corporate ranches will still be incented to destroy healthy grasslands in drought-prone areas in favor continued overproduction of corn, soybeans and wheat. And most farmers will still struggle to make ends meet in a system designed to produce cheap food and corporate profits.

But it wasn’t realistic to expect that the farm bill would initiate a revolution this time around. It took five decades to build up the edifice of corporate agriculture that the bill protects, and it will take time to unwind this twisted scheme of federal incentives to unsustainable operations.

Over the last few farm bill cycles there has been progress though, and the exciting thing about the 2007 Farm Bill is that it brought an unprecedented number of small victories for sustainable agriculture. Those small victories will create lifelines for small and mid-sized farms over the next four years, and build the foundation for bigger wins the next time around.

The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture has a sustainable agriculture priorities scorecard for the farm bill at its website, http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/2008_farm_bill_chart.php, and so does the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, http://www.msawg.org/ActionCenter/Revised_SAC_Farm_Bill_Snapshot5_08.pdf. Some of the highlights include:

• $22 million in guaranteed funding for the Organic Certification Cost Share program, a fourfold increase over the 2002 Farm Bill, and an increase in the payment limitation to $750.
• A requirement that USDA improve data collection on organic farming, including a complete review of crop insurance rules that currently force organic farmers to pay higher premiums for lower coverage than conventional farmers.
• Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling for meat and fish.
• Food stamps
• Expanded eligibility of organic farms for funding under federal soil conservation programs (EQIP, CSP).
• $78 million in guaranteed funding for organic farming research.
• A new grant program, the New Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, to promote non-GMO plant and animal breeding research.
• Requirement that USDA allow interstate shipment of meats processed at small (25 employees or fewer) state inspected plants.
• $15 million in guaranteed funding for new Rural Micro Entrepreneur Assistance Program to provide credit and technical assistance to start or expand rural businesses.
• $78 million for the Beginning Farmers and Rancher Development Program.
• $75 million for technical assistance under the Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher program.
• Support for local food systems, including allowing a “geographic preference” through federal procurement programs for locally grown foods, funding for new local and regional food supply networks, and $33 million for the Farmers Market Promotion Program.

Overall, this year’s Farm Bill includes the biggest gains for sustainable farming since the establishment of the National Organic Program. These achievements by the sustainable farming community will promote the health of family farms, rural economies and the environment, and calls and letters from CFSA members helped make these changes happen.

Together, we are part of the national movement to restore responsibility to America’s food and farming systems: Over the last year, our movement learned valuable lessons about how to be effective in Washington and how to leverage popular interest in food systems issues into policy changes. The most lasting impact of the 2007 Farm Bill will be the increased power of our movement to achieve greater changes in the future and restore a food system that is good for farmers, consumers and the land.