Sing Your Own Farm Bill
Congressman Blumenauer believes that the current Farm Bill falls short of enacting necessary reforms. It maintains the pattern of cutting benefits for our most vulnerable people while spending taxpayer dollars to subsidize only a handful of crops. He believes that we can do better. We can start by envisioning a bill that reduces spending, promotes healthy food, and provides innovative solutions to environmental challenges.
As part of this project, Congressman Blumenauer is reaching out to varied stakeholders across Oregon and beyond to gather big ideas, feedback, and thoughts on visioning a new Farm Bill. What programs fall short? Where are the opportunities to better support growing food, beginning farmers, organics, and research innovation? Contact his office to learn more and get involved.
As part of this effort, he will also be encouraging his colleagues in Congress to engage farmers, ranchers and other agricultural stakeholders in their district in the same way, hoping to get a whole picture of the needs of farming in America to inform the next Farm Bill, not just specialized interests and big agribusinesses.
You can find out more about Congressman Blumenauer’s prior record on Farm Bill reform in his report entitled "Growing Opportunities: Family Farm Values for Reforming the Farm Bill." Congressman Blumenauer wrote this report to inform the 2012 Farm Bill reauthorization, and is working to revise it in the advance of next reauthorization in 2018.