Members of the House Agricultural Committee last week approved a new five-year farm bill that would provide new benefits for California agriculture. House Democratic leaders, including Mike Thompson, Lynn Woolsey and Nancy Pelosi, fought off efforts by urban lawmakers and other interested parties opposed to continued crop subsidies. They argued that the bill should include increased funding for conservation, food stamps and creating community food security for healthier diets.
While some Bay Area activists disagreed, saying that crop subsidies skew food production and separate consumers from farmers, among other things, Thompson and others saw it differently.
“This farm bill represents a change in direction from previous farm policy,” Thompson said. “It gives specialty crops and organic crops a seat at the table, while at the same time preserving the importance of conventional agriculture across the country.”
The 2007 bill contains $1.6 billion in mandatory funding for strengthening and supporting specialty crops as well as funding for additional organic certification. It has not yet been approved by the entire House; the U.S. Senate will debate its own version of the farm bill.
