But legislators are already making decisions on our behalf, and they're leaving out some important things. Live Real joins our allies in calling on the Senate to pass a Farm Bill that:
restores full direct funding of $75 million to the Outreach and Technical Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Program (program 2501). The program has been important in addressing historic discrimination against farmers of color by USDA and also supports domestic production of healthy food, as nearly 20 percent of farms that grow vegetables, melons, fruits and tree nuts are operated by farmers of color.
authorizes schools and other service institutions to use federal program dollars to purchase food from local agricultural producers
provides full funding for the SNAP program (food stamps) that protects against hunger and improves nutrition. Cuts to SNAP will only make things harder in this already tough economy.
provides better and more affordable crop insurance for organic farmers to reduce their financial risk, thereby helping to reduce the harmful chemicals that threaten our health and pollute the environment.
supports Senator Leahy's public health reporting amendment which would require USDA to report on the public health impacts of federal agricultural policies.
Here's the full list of Senate Agriculture Committee members who need to hear from us today. If you don't find your Senator's name on this list, text a friend who lives in that state and ask them to make the call! Then, contact your own Senator by calling Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator's office: (202) 225-3121.
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), (202) 224-4242 Tom Harkin (D-IA) (202) 224-3254 Richard Lugar (R-IN) (202) 224-4814 Thad Cochran (R-MS) (202) 224-5054 Kent Conrad (D-ND) (202) 224-2043 Max Baucus (D-MT) (202) 224-2651 Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (202) 224-2541 Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) (202) 224-3521 E. Benjamin Nelson (D-NE) (202) 224-6551 Sherrod Brown (D-OH) (202) 224-2315 Mike Johanns (R-NE) (202) 224-4224 John Boozman (R-AR) (202) 224-4843 Robert Casey, Jr. (D-PA) (202) 224-6324 Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) (202) 224-3244 Charles Grassley (R-IA) (202) 224-3744 John Thune (R-SD) (202) 224-2321 Michael Bennet (D-CO) (202) 224-5852 Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) (202) 224-4451 John Hoeven (R-ND) (202) 224-2551