Earlier this week, Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced she will introduce a bill called the The Local Farm, Food, and Jobs Act, which will "promote organic farming, local and regional farmers, farmers markets, and community-supported agriculture networks, and assist schools and low-income Americans to buy healthy food at local markets."
Cue the Happy Dance.
The Local Farm, Food, and Jobs Act is part of a larger package of reforms to the Farm Bill, modifying nine of its sixteen titles. It intends to foster economic growth in rural communities by creating jobs on small farms. Some important reforms include:
- Making it easier for farmers markets to accept food stamps.
- Giving schools the means to buy food from local sources for their school lunch and breakfast programs.
- Providing local infrastructure that allow farmers to process their products locally and more humanely.
FINALLY a piece of legislature that supports the health of the American People in a sustainable way that is oriented towards small business. This bill is a very big step in the right direction towards the type of reform that America needs to help combat the food crisis. While exciting and long-awaited, I wonder how Agribusiness's lobbyists and the lawmakers they have eating out of the palm of their hand will allow the bill to make its way to President Obama's desk. Either way, it represents a jab to the Agriculture Industry, and I hope that lawmakers continue to puncture its influence by supporting laws like this one.
En garde Agribusiness. It's officially on.
