The leaders of several prominent Catholic charities and institutions recently urged Congress to consider the needs of the poor and hungry in the 2013 Farm Bill.
For the past few years, assistance to the poor has been a contentious issues in farm bill debates. Last summer, members of the House and Senate clashed over nutritional subsidy supports. While both houses agreed to trim money from the food stamps program, Democrats in the Senate sought to limit the reductions while Republicans in the House pushed for a major reduction.
With the House and Senate Agriculture Committees both passing versions of the 2013 Farm Bill, the food stamp fight looks like it’s going to reignite. The House bill is already seeking to significantly reduce food stamp support, with an estimated $20 billion in savings coming from reductions in nutritional support.
With congressional debate about to begin, Catholic groups are pressuring Congress to pay attention to the needs of the poor, the hungry, and small farmers across the country.
“In the face of continuing budgetary constraints, the 2013 Farm Bill is an opportunity to address our nation’s broken and outdated agricultural policies,” they said. “This is a crucial time to build a more just framework that puts poor and hungry people first, serves small and moderate-sized family farms, promotes sustainable stewardship of the land and helps vulnerable farmers and rural communities both at home and in developing countries.”
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer