Farm Bill | IATP

Raise more voices for effective farm policy—now!

The projected course of action regarding the Farm Bill changed dramatically over the past two weeks. The general expectation was a spring 2012 Farm Bill, with the possibility that Presidential election politics would push things back to potentially 2013.

Sign-on letter in support of the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act

A hell of a way to write a Farm Bill

If you want to see what political dysfunction looks like, take a look at how Congress is bungling the nation’s most important food and farm policy—the Farm Bill. The sprawling Farm Bill sets policy for the next five years and is directly relevant to our 2 million farmers, the 43 million people on food assistance and the more than 900 million acres in farmland.

How a better farm policy could save money and stabilize prices

If we had a better U.S. farm policy from 1998 through 2010, we could have saved close to $100 billion in government payments for crops, provided essentially the same farm income and helped stabilize increasingly volatile agriculture prices.

Healthy Farms, Healthy People Summit

What's standing in the way of healthy, sustainable agriculture?

Transforming U.S. agriculture to make it healthier and more sustainable is suddenly a hot topic. Last week, Science published an essay in its policy forum,

Who's benefitting from higher farm prices

Higher prices for crops mean higher profits for farmers, right? Not so fast, says a new Policy Brief by Timothy Wise at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University.

A climate-friendly Farm Bill

We're in a rut when it comes to taking action on climate change. Congress has stalled on passing climate legislation. International negotiators failed to agree on binding emission cuts in Cancun late last year. And it's unclear whether the EPA will have the power to regulate greenhouse gases. Fortunately, we have a tool to help us make a real impact on slowing climate change: the Farm Bill.

Charter for a Healthy Farm Bill

U.S. health professionals are calling on new leadership in Congress to make health a priority in writing the next Farm Bill. National health leaders, including Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Marion Nestle, have signed onto a “Charter for a Healthy Farm Bill.” (See the full list of signatories at HealthyFoodAction.org.)

A Farm Bill for a Cooler Climate

Agriculture offers a two-fold benefit for the climate: as a place to reduce direct emissions and as a carbon sink. Many farmers have already adopted more climate-friendly agriculture practices, stimulated in part by programs in the 2008 Farm Bill.