05/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/01/2024 12:30
Natasha Blakely, [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Stabenowand House Agriculture Committee Republicansintroduced their competing frameworks for the latest Farm Bill, the comprehensive legislative package that will set agricultural, food, and nutrition policy for the next five years. The last farm bill was meant to expire in September 2023, but Congress extended the deadline for a year.
The legislation put forth by Chair Stabenow includes important provisions and funding for climate-smart agriculture and forestry. It aims to achieve the success of the 2018 Farm Bill, which Sierra Club endorsed, by compiling more than 100 bipartisan bills into a single popular package. Sierra Club urges the House to take up this version of the bill, which includes our following priorities:
In response, Sierra Club Lands Protection Program Director Athan Manuel released the following statement:
"Senator Stabenow has released a framework for a Farm Bill that will promote climate-smart farming, expand nutrition programs, and protect our environment, and we hope to see the House pass the Senate version of the bill. The Farm Bill will have a huge impact not only on farming and what it will look like for at least the next five years, but also food access, forestry, land and water pollution, and our climate.
"We need Congress to pass a forward-looking bill that prioritizes family-sustaining jobs, small and mid-sized farmers, local food systems, and healthy communities without further delay, and Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Stabenow's framework will do just that. With unprecedented investments into Farm Bill programs through the Inflation Reduction Act to fight climate change and improve the health of our rural landscape, the Farm Bill can make a real difference in people's lives by investing taxpayer money back into the public."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.