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Endorsements from Our Region and Beyond
We recently joined other organizations in the support of Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) bipartisan bill, The Local Farms and Food Act. Other organizations expressing support for the marker bill include:
We at the Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council work through collective impact to build a more resilient food system that supports producers and consumers through economic, environmental, and social resilience. The Local Farms and Food Act could help create a 2023 Farm Bill that strengthens regional food systems for the better.
What is the Local Farms and Food Act?
The Local Farms and Food Act (“the Act”) is a bipartisan marker bill submitted as part of the 2023 Reauthorization Process. If you read our first marker bill blog post, you may know that marker bills are not necessarily intended to be passed into law. Rather, they are created to show support for particular topics related to large federal packages, like the 2023 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is up for reauthorization by the end of September 2023.
The Act is co-sponsored by Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Peter Welch (D-VT), and John Fetterman (D-PA), who all introduced it with Senator Brown on Wednesday April 18th. House Representatives cannot co-sponsor a Senate bill, but Representatives can submit a duplicate Act to the House in order to support it. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) did just that by introducing the companion legislation to the House for review by the House Committee on Agriculture.
The Act builds upon the The Local Food and Regional Market Supply (FARMS) Act to strengthen regional food systems. Sen. Brown introduced the Local FARMS Act in 2017, and it resulted in significant developments in the 2018 Farm Bill, including the establishment of the Local Agricultural Marketing Program (LAMP), which several organizations in our area have used to foster our regional food system.
Five years late, the new Local Farms and Food Act would “simplify applications for certain Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program projects, increase funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP), reauthorize the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, reduce barriers to the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), and build upon the GusNIP Produce Prescription Program, among other provisions.”
You can find more information about the Act and how it supports regional food systems at Sen. Brown's website.
Want to learn more about the Farm Bill?
We have a series of blog posts and other resources, tailored to the concerns of our region:
🧑🌾 If you'd like to get involved in our advocacy work, join a Committee!