Current Status of House & Senate Farm Bills

Senate

The bill voted out of the Senate Agriculture Committee early this week is very similar to the Senate’s initial “marker” bill, calling for a total of $23 billion in cuts over 10 years– $4 billion in SNAP, $6 billion in conservation, and the balance in crop insurance/commodity programs. One noted change however, is the addition of the amendment introduced by U.S. Senator William “Mo” Cowan (D-MA) to authorize the making of direct loans to farmers in both urban as well as rural areas to assist in the production of locally and regionally produced agriculture food products.

The Senate bill also calls for $100 million over the lifetime of the bill for SNAP nutrition incentives. In addition, the bill calls for mandatory funding in the amount of $20 million annually to fund the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. When the bill goes to the Senate floor next week, there will be a renewed opportunity for several key amendments to be adopted, including:

• U.S. Senator Gillibrand’s (D-NY) amendment to restore funding to SNAP
• Senator Cowan’s amendment to increase funding for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program
• U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) amendment to restore nutrition program funding to The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Community Food Projects, and employment training.

House

Similar to the Senate, the Farm Bill that was voted out of the House Agriculture Committee is largely unchanged from the initial “markup.”  With the call for the deep $20.5 billion cuts in SNAP funding, which Reuters points out is, “the biggest cuts in food stamps for the poor in a generation,” U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and others worked tirelessly with amendments to rescind the proposed cuts and fully fund the SNAP program. However, McGovern’s efforts were not approved. The final House Agricultural Committee version of the bill going to the floor of the House still calls for nearly $40 billion in cuts. In addition to the $20.5 billion cuts in SNAP, the bill calls for $7 billion from conservation, and the balance in crop insurance/commodity programs. Amendments to restore categorical eligibility to SNAP recipients were not adopted, meaning that SNAP enrollment may drop and school children may lose their ability to access free and reduced price lunch in some states. There still remain several more opportunities to expand eligibility for SNAP program participants through amendments that U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) may offer when the bill reaches the floor of the House.

Meanwhile, an amendment, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), to reauthorize the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) was approved. However, the House still needs to determine the level of funding that will be allocated to HFFI. If funded, this program will provide capital for the food hub entrepreneurs, such as those whom our Wholesome Wave Healthy Food Commerce Investments team is supporting.

At $5 million per year, funding for nutrition incentives for SNAP in the House version of the bill still remains much lower than funding in the Senate version. Further, no amendments were put forward to include the Hunger Free Community Incentive Grants into the bill. When the bill goes to the floor of the House, there will be an opportunity to address this issue.

Farm Bill Next Steps

The Senate will begin its floor debate on the Farm Bill on Monday, May 20. Final votes on the bill could come after Memorial Day. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas says the House bill will go to the floor in June. Indications are that Senate and House leadership want to have a finalized version through Conference and final votes in each Chamber in time for President Obama to sign the bill into law before the current Farm Bill expires on September 30.

We expect more amendments in both chambers during upcoming floor debates. After passage in each body, the differences between the two bills will be worked out in conference and then on to final passage and to the White House.

Michel Nischan, CEO & President, Wholesome Wave

The USDA is taking new steps to ensure that every farmers market across the country is able to accept SNAP benefits – and the move has garnered national attention. Wholesome Wave CEO & President Michel Nischan took part in a HuffPost Live segment on May 2, 2013 focusing on the new eligibility rules for a $4 million USDA grant that would increase the availability of wireless EBT machines at farmers markets and for farmers across the country.

The more farmers markets and farmers that are able to accept SNAP (or food stamp) dollars, the greater access low-income consumers will have to fresh healthy locally grown food. Nischan told Huff Post viewers that currently, “if a farmers market wants access to an EBT machine they have to pay almost $1000 for the machine and then cover the transaction costs,” explained Michel, “Lack of access [to wireless EBT terminals] has been a big barrier to farmers markets.” Earlier this week, Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon announced a policy change that would make it easier for both individual farmers and farmers market to get piece of the $4 million set aside for wireless EBT machine grants.

Nicole Berube, Executive Director of CitySeed, a Connecticut-based nonprofit, which operates producer-only farmers markets in the New Haven-area was also an invited guest on the show. Berube said, when SNAP benefits switched to electronic benefits cards several years ago, most farmers markets were effectively barred from accepting SNAP based on technology and cost difficulties. CitySeed runs a Wholesome Wave Double Value Coupon Program, which incentives SNAP customers to shop at their markets by literally doubling the value of the SNAP benefits.

Once markets began to accept SNAP benefits on a larger scale, farmers market managers said SNAP sales were not a significant part of their income. “The difficulty [for SNAP recipients] is a combination of access and affordability,” said Nischan, who was also excited that in addition to the $4 million, there may be funding  in the Senate and House  versions of the pending Farm Bill to incentivize SNAP purchases when spent on fruits and vegetables.

“We have demonstrated, and Nicole has in her program in New Haven, when SNAP shoppers are exposed to affordability, they overwhelmingly choose fresh fruits and vegetables. When they can afford it, they will buy it.”

To listen to the recording of the HuffPost Live segment, click here.

Attention farmers and Farmers Market mangers: Curious whether you or your market is eligible to receive funding from the $4 million to purchase an EBT machine? Wholesome Wave and the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) will be hosting a webinar on Monday, May 6, 2013, at 4pm EST to discuss changes to this year’s funding eligibility requirements, the use of the $4 million, and some of the barriers that FMC members and markets experienced in obtaining the USDA funds. The webinar will be lead by Rogelio Carrasco of USDA Food and Nutrition Service and Jen O’Brien of the Farmers Market Coalition.

To learn more and register for the webinar, click here.

Wholesome Wave’s 4^th Annual National Partner Convening brought together over 150 enthused participants to the nation’s capital. Attendees included market managers and farmers that take part in Wholesome Wave programs and represent more than 60 partner organizations in 27 states, nearly 400 farmers markets nationwide and more than 3,200 farmers. Also in attendance were funders, supporters, USDA and federal officials and a special group of civic-minded celebrity chefs.

The two-and-a-half-day meeting was packed with inspiring speakers, advocacy training, Capitol Hill visits with lawmakers, fundraising and storytelling workshops, and Double Value Coupon specific programming sessions led by some of our senior partners.

Speakers and notable guests of this year’s convening included Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon,and Deputy Undersecretary Joanie Walsh. Chefs and hunger advocates José Andrés and Tom Colicchio, urban farmer Will Allen, Top Chef favorites Sam Talbot and Maria Hines, Hell’s Kitchen season 3 winner Rock Harper, and chef advocates Mark Williams, Jeremy Barlow and Joe Simone also joined the gathering.

The convening launched with a Sunday evening reception at the residence of our Executive Vice President, Gus Schumacher. Guests were honored with a surprise visit from Secretary Vilsack and Under Secretary Concannon. Secretary Vilsack addressed the audience and praised the work of Wholesome Wave and our partner network for making fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables more accessible and affordable. “The work that you are doing is far reaching…it is about sending a message that fruits and vegetables don’t necessarily have to be the exclusive opportunity for those who are in the middle or upper class” said Vilsack. “We have an obesity issue in this country and a hunger issue, and Wholesome Wave is addressing both of those.”

(L) Wholesome Wave’s Michel Nischan & Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack; (R) Wholesome Wave’s Gus Schumacher & Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon

With the ceremonial ringing of Wholesome Wave’s cowbell, CEO and Founder Michel Nischan officially kicked off the 4^th Annual National Partner Convening at the Madison Hotel in Washington D.C. Nischan charged attendees, “to endeavor that people living in poverty and small farmers become heroes of a changed food system.”

In a compelling keynote speech, José Andrés said, “Wholesome Wave is investing in solutions.” As a long-time supporter of Wholesome Wave’s work, Andrés touted the benefits of the Double Value Coupon Program, which increases healthy food access for people living in underserved communities; boosts local urban and rural economies and supports small and midsize farmers. Andrés said that Wholesome Wave’s acronym – WW- should stand for “Win Win!” – a win for the consumer and a win for the small farmer. Quoting 18^th century French politician Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, José closed by telling the audience, “The future of the nations will depend on how they they feed themselves.”

José Andrés delivers a compelling keynote speech

For the first time, our convening included an Advocacy Track, which prepared partners and supporters for their visits with lawmakers. Participants got a crash course on the Farm Bill and federal nutrition benefit incentive programs, as well as tips on how to discuss the importance of federally funded nutrition incentives for locally grown fruits and vegetables. Partners who elected to participate in this track were joined by a group of celebrity chefs who are part of a larger emerging organization – the Chef Advocacy Network – consisting of chefs and restaurateurs who want to make change in their communities and the world. Together, partners and chefs took to the Hill to encourage their lawmakers to support legislation that would provide $100 million in federal funding towards nutrition incentives in the Farm Bill. Joining in support of this work were Tom Colicchio, José Andrés, and Will Allen, who also participated in a Tuesday afternoon press conference with Wholesome Wave partners Sarah Smith, farmer and manager of Skowhegan Farmers Market in Maine and Lauren Shweder Biel, Executive Director of DC Greens.

(L) Chef Maria Hines & Congressman McDermott; (C) Tom Colicchio visits lawmakers to discuss nutrition incentives; (R) Chef Andrew Karasz & Congressman McGovern

This year’s Programming Track included numerous skill-building workshops, including “Telling Stories that Matter,” a hands on workshop focused on the power stories have to connect organizations with stakeholders, encourage engagement and spread awareness; “Funder Perspectives on Sustainability,” a funder-led panel on how to talk to supporters about funding sustainable program models; “Decoding the Hype on Food Hubs,” led by the Wholesome Wave Investments team and discussing food hubs and business plans. The track also included Wholesome Wave partner-led sessions on topics ranging from non-traditional Double Value Coupon Program outreach efforts, packaging your results for media and stakeholders, Electronic Benefit Transfer wireless (EBT) technology for SNAP consumers, evaluation and research efforts. Additionally, Peggy Neu, President of The Monday Campaigns, the parent company of public health oriented campaigns such as Meatless Monday and The Kids Cook Monday, gave attendees some fun and useful tips on how to best encourage kids and adults to eat more locally-grown fruits and vegetables using weekly prompts and cues.

Will Allen & Michel Nischan

“What Wholesome Wave is doing is revolutionary,” said urban farmer and Growing Power CEO Will Allen as he closed the two-day convening. In an inspiring closing address, Allen told attendees “we need to go back to the days where the food system was local” and charged listeners “to get everyone to the table for the good food revolution, from the beginning.”

On behalf of Wholesome Wave, a great many thanks to: our dedicated partners who came to learn, teach and participate; the USDA officials who participated, spoke and engaged with attendees; the chefs who came to advocate for nutrition incentives; our keynote speakers José Andrés and Will Allen; and to this year’s convening sponsors – GRACE Communication Foundation and our Anonymous Donor.

Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon announced Monday (April 29, 2013) the expanded eligibility for USDA grants to improve access to fresh produce and healthy foods by SNAP recipients at farmers markets throughout the country. In 2012, the USDA announced  $4 million in funding to expand the availability of wireless point-of-sale terminals to farmers markers not currently accepting SNAP benefits. Today’s announcement expands eligibility for the $4 million to include direct marketing farmers and farmers markets. The funds can be used to lease or purchase point-of-sale equipment or pay for wireless access.

“These grants increase the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables to SNAP customers and further encourage them to purchase and prepare healthy foods for their families using SNAP benefits,” said Undersecretary Concannon in a USDA press release.

To find out more about available farmers market equipment funding or to learn more about accepting SNAP benefits at your farmers market, contact your SNAP State agency or visit http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/fm.htm

To read the full USDA Press Release, see below or click here. 

Tom Colicchio, José Andrés, & Will Allen joined Wholesome Wave CEO Michel Nischan

(Washington, D.C. – April 23, 2013) With nearly a dozen chefs at their side, local food advocates visited Capitol Hill today to encourage lawmakers to support legislation that would provide federally funded nutrition incentives in the upcoming farm bill. It is all part of a planned advocacy day for Wholesome Wave and its more than 60 partner organizations working with more than 300 farmers markets from 27 states across the country. The organizations have proven that incentives at farmers markets empower food stamp recipients to buy and eat healthy, locally-grown, fresh fruits and vegetables, which in turn increase revenue for local farmers and businesses.

Michel Nischan, CEO & Founder, Wholesome Wave and award-winning chef & restaurateur invited fellow award-winning and influential chefs, including Tom Colicchio and José Andrés to join Wholesome Wave as it advocated lawmakers to ensure that SNAP nutrition incentives funding is included in the upcoming Farm Bill. Nischan says, “One key message we want to get across is that food stamp consumers represent a powerful purchasing group that wants to both feed their families healthy, fresh locally-grown food and support small farm businesses.”

Tom Colicchio, Top Chef lead judge and producer of the newly released documentary, A Place at the Table, which takes a hard look at hunger in the United States, says, “Wholesome Wave and its innovative partners are proving that the use of incentives at farmers markets is one of the best ways to help people struggling to access nutritious food get healthy meals on their tables.”

Will Allen, CEO & Founder of Growing Power, a Milwaukee-based non-profit dedicated to urban agriculture, joined José Andrés as a keynote speaker for Wholesome Wave’s 4^th annual convening taking place at the Madison Hotel. Both expressed their support for nutrition incentives during a news conference this afternoon.  Allen says, “All people, regardless of their economic circumstances, should have access to fresh, safe, affordable and nutritious foods at all times, and incentive programs like Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program help make that possible.” Andrés, a long time friend of Wholesome Wave and global champion of food security and nutrition education, said, “Wholesome Wave is leading the way in finding new and innovative ways to improve local food access while also supporting local farmers, who are the nation’s first small business people.”

Gus Schumacher, Wholesome Wave’s Senior Vice President and former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at USDA, helped create the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs for vulnerable seniors and is no newcomer to the approach of providing affordability for locally grown foods to people living with poverty. The food stamp nutrition incentives provision was included in early versions of the pending farm bill, versions passed by the full Senate and approved by an earlier House Agriculture Committee draft in 2012. Schumacher says that, “Ensuring the nutrition incentive provisions remain in the final 2013 farm bill is critical to supporting the income of farmers selling at local farmers markets and helping our vulnerable families who need greater access to healthy fresh food purchasing directly from these farmers.”

Wholesome Wave and its partners across the country are leading the way in finding innovative ways to improve access to affordable, healthy, locally grown food in underserved communities. Wholesome Wave partners represents nearly 400 farmers markets, 32-hundred farmers and serve more than 40,000 Double Value Coupon Program (DVCP) consumers every year. Wholesome Wave survey data from the 2012 market season shows that:

• 90% of DVCP consumers reported increased consumption of fresh fruits & vegetables
• 95% of DVCP consumers said Quality of Produce was reason why they shopped at farmers market, 88% said supporting local farms & businesses was very important
• An average of 27% of total market sales came from federal benefits and DVCP

Additional chefs who took part in Wholesome Wave’s advocacy day on Capitol Hill include, Jeremy Barlow, Rock Harper, Maria Hines, Sam Talbot and Mark Williams.

About Wholesome Wave

Wholesome Wave is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to supporting small- and mid-sized farmers and making fresh, healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables available to all people, regardless of income. Wholesome Wave partners with farmers markets, community leaders, healthcare providers, like-minded nonprofits and government entities to implement programs that benefit consumers in under-served communities and the farmers who provide for them.

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Wholesome Wave partner, farmer Sarah Smith, of Skowhegan Maine

Wholesome Wave partner Sarah Smith, a farmer out of Skowhegan, Maine, took center stage with Top Chef Tom Colicchio in Washington D.C. yesterday as Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) reintroduced the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act. The Act is a comprehensive package of reforms that would expand opportunities for local and regional farmers and make it easier for consumers to have access to healthy foods. One key provision in the legislation would require federal funding in the Farm Bill to support SNAP nutrition incentive programs, such as Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program.

Smith highlighted the impact the bill would make on improving the incomes of small and mid-size farmers and low-income consumers in her region of Maine. “Millions of dollars are coming into Maine through SNAP every month and if farmers could capture just a small percentage of those dollars, it would (have) a huge amount of impact,” Smith told reporters.

The Pingree/Brown Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act, was first introduced in 2011. Many of its provisions made their way into versions of the Farm Bill that passed the Senate and House Agriculture Committee in 2012. However the House version was never brought to the floor for a vote. The recently reintroduced bill aims to expand access to healthy foods for consumers, provide support for small and mid-size farmers, and improve local and regional food infrastructure. In addition to the mandatory SNAP incentive funding the bill would:

• Improve SNAP participant access to farmers markets, CSAs, and other direct marketing outlets by creating a level playing field for electronic benefit transfer among vendors;
• Allow SNAP benefits to be redeemed at CSAs;
• Expands the Farmers Market Promotion Program and funds funding the program at $20 million annually; and
• Direct Specialty Crop Block Grants to be used to improve farm profitability and sustainability, improve distribution of local and regional food, and increase the domestic consumption and affordability of fruits and vegetables in low-income communities.
• Fund the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program at $25 million annually.
  

  Congresswoman Chellie Pingree

“Consumers want to know where their food is coming from, and they want healthy, local options when they shop for their families” Pingree said, “But national farm policy hasn’t kept up with the public and it’s about time we changed that.”

Chef Tom Colicchio

Chef and Advocate Tom Colicchio also made an appearance at the press conference, showing his support for the Pingree/Brown legislation

. Colicchio, who also produced the documentary A Place at the Table, noted how important farmers markets were to his early culinary success in New York City, enabling him to source fresh local produce close to his restaurant. For the nearly 50 million Americans who are struggling to put food on their table, Colicchio said the passage of provisions in the Pingree/Brown legislation would help these American families to use their SNAP benefits at local farmers markets, easing local access and make fresh local produce more affordable.

We are incredibly proud of Sarah Smith for being an advocate for this critical piece of legislation, which will help increase access to affordable, healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables and generate additional income for small and mid-size farmers.

Photo Credit: Shavaun Evans, Grassroots Associate, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

Courtesy: University of South Carolina

A research team, led by Darcy Freedman, a professor of social work at the University of South Carolina, collaborated with residents in Orangeburg, South Carolina to establish a farmers market in 2011 at a federally qualified health clinic (FQHC) with a grant from the CDC and National Cancer Institute.

The Right Choice, Fresh Start Farmers’ Market study’s objective was to measure the impact of the farmers’ market and financial incentive program on fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income rural patients living with diabetes. The study, which was “… the first FQHC-based farmers’ market intervention in the scientific literature,” found that, “with targeted nutrition incentives, diabetics shopping at the adjacent farmers market had greater improvements in diet” and that “the financial incentive was critical in improving fruit and vegetable intake”. 

Freedman’s study found a dose-response relationship between the intervention and improvements in diet among those with diabetes. In other words, the more patients came to the health center-based farmers’ market, the more likely they were to improve fruit and vegetable intake over the five-month study timeframe.  Additionally, patients who relied on the financial incentives offered through the study were more likely to improve their fruit and vegetable consumption.

Courtesy: University of South Carolina

Participants in the study were mostly older African American women experiencing obesity in addition to diabetes. More than half of the participants in the farmers market study reported that they struggled over the past year to get the financial resources needed to provide nutritious meals for their families. Most of the diabetic participants were living on an annual salary of $10,000 or less per year.

The farmers market customers came out in full force to the Right Choice, Fresh Start Farmers’ Market even though less than 25% of the study participants had shopped at any farmers market in the recent past. Once at the market, they bought the best quality, local products with the five most popular items purchased including peaches, sweet potatoes, squash or zucchini, corn, and tomatoes.

The study participants took home healthy foods, and they also contributed to the financial prospects for the participating farmers. Participants spent an average of $53.30 throughout the market season and an average of $5.49 during each sales transaction. In the 2011 season, the farmers’ market generated nearly $16,000 in revenue for small-scale rural farmers.

Freedman and her colleagues concluded that the study’s, “findings offer evidence for developing farmers markets at health centers as a strategy for improving patient health.” They go on to suggest that health center-based farmers markets may go a long way to promoting the health of patients as well as communities more broadly.

The study authors concluded that, “Personal financial incentives to improve economic access to farmers markets , similar to co-payment programs that facilitate patient access to pharmaceuticals, may further enhance the benefit of a farmers market intervention.”.

In another research project at the Right Choice Fresh Start Farmers’ Market, Freedman studied the influence of a food assistance matching intervention. Freedman and Herbert, Distinguished Professor of Public Health at USC, recently published a letter to the local paper, writing “ Double bucks programs are a way to make healthy choices easier while increasing economic opportunity for small-scale farmers. They offer a win for farmers, a win for families, a win for communities and a win for taxpayers who foot a portion of the bill for diet-related health problems. Double bucks programs are a promising approach to improve the SNAP program in South Carolina.”

The Pentagon said this new Initiative is part of their expanding Operation Live Well,  “in which the goal is to increase the health and wellness of the total force — the Healthy Base Initiative will assess the 13 installations to develop a program for service members, their families and civilians to take charge of their health through nutrition and fitness.”

In an American Forces Press Service article, Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs said, “The idea is to reach out into the communities [and] link projects that build health and environments where our men and women in the service and their families and civilians can make healthy choices.”

The Initiative will launch in mid-June 2013 with the goal of lowering obesity rates, promoting healthy lifestyles, and increasing fitness levels.

Wholesome Wave’s Executive VP Gus Schumacher and a former USDA Undersecretary commended the Pentagon for this innovative health and wellness initiative.  “A number of the military installations selected in this first phase are close by to at least one or more of our country’s 7,800 farmers markets. These farmers markets continue to grow and supply affordable, healthy, fresh, local fruits and vegetables to nearby communities. The markets and especially their farmers, a number who are veterans, would enthusiastically welcome their neighbors – our nation’s military families.”

The military installations included in the initiative are Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Sub Base New London, Conn.; Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Yokota Air Base, Japan; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center/Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.; U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.; March Air Reserve Base, Calif.; and Camp Dodge, Iowa. The other two participants are the Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va.; and Defense Health Headquarters, Falls Church, Va.