Farm Policies for Today and Tomorrow photo by Laura Elizabeth Pohl
America’s farmers and the federal government are natural allies in the fight against domestic hunger and malnutrition—and this alliance is enshrined in the nation’s farm policies. The U.S. public needs farm policies to ensure a safe and affordable food supply, to protect the sustainability of vital natural resources that agricultural production depends on, and to produce well-balanced, nutritious foods.
A cursory look at the U.S. food system reveals the latter—producing well-balanced, nutritious foods—as badly in need of attention. Rising healthcare costs associated with chronic diet-related diseases should lead policymakers to reassess the balance of farm policies. Current policies favor production of calories, not nutrients. Today, the United States does not even produce enough fruits and vegetables for Americans to meet the recommended daily allowances (RDAs) of vitamins and minerals. Thus, farm policies should lean more towards the production of healthy foods.
A rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population is demanding healthy, sustainably produced foods. Small and medium-size producers, the farmers best suited to meet this demand, receive virtually no support from U.S. farm policy. The largest, wealthiest producers of a limited number of crops are the biggest beneficiaries of government support in good times and in bad. At a time when they are earning record high farm income, it makes little sense for them to be the main beneficiaries of national farm policy.
Government has directed schools to serve children healthier meals, and when possible to source more of the foods used in child nutrition programs from local and regional producers, mostly small to medium-size producers. This merits much stronger support from policymakers. Not only would it benefit children, including low-income children, but also a great many farmers and their communities, reviving a connection between agriculture and rural development that once was much stronger.
Included in the 2012 Hunger Report is a proposal to restructure the current farm safety net. Income-support programs should be replaced by a more efficient system of revenue insurance, and support should be available to all farmers and based on principles of fairness and shared responsibility.
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