How The Agricultural Act a.k.a THE FARM BILL Will Affect Your Grocery Bill

For something that can have a real impact on our lives, the Farm Bill has stayed remarkably under the radar.  In the past eighteen months, I’ve heard only a couple of mentions of it on the news, and am willing to bet just a small percent of Americans know about it. Those that do are concerned, because the Farm Bill must be renewed every 5 yrs. Its several provisions need to reflect the current economy. Congress couldn’t agree on a revised bill in 2012 and extended the 2008 one through 2013. Now they can’t agree again and the question is will they grant another extension or let it expire?

What does this mean to us? Well let’s look at the Bill’s history. F.D.R. inaugurated the Agriculture Act in 1932 to help the economy during the depression by manipulating prices through subsidizing farmers. It also began land conservation and had a “nutrition” category which addressed the handling of harvest excesses. In 1935 school lunches were added. The 1949 version was the only one ever to be enacted into permanent law and in a pinch still can be enforced today, but it’s hopelessly out of date. In 1965 it got the name: The Farm Bill, but basically it rolled smoothly until this renewal, when two of its provisions, school lunches and nutrition which now covers Food Stamps brought it to a halt in Congress.

Before examining those two bones of contention, let’s look at some of the other ways we’ll be affected. If the Farm Bill isn’t passed, subsidies aren’t granted and price ceilings disappear. That means the farmers, who must still meet their expenses are free to raise prices. The forecast is for dairy to lead the way with milk doubling in a few weeks, bad news for families. I can see the cartoon now of a man with a gun holding up a woman outside a supermarket with the caption:”Got milk?”

The conservation clause protects wetlands and other fragile ecological areas from cultivation, allows for research grants, and funds the rural energy program, which is already running out of funds. This means the farmers will have to pay more to run their equipment, which will reflect in the cost of their products. It goes without saying that the protections will cease and the grants dry up.

When you look courageous cheap cialis from canada and powerful, strangers would hesitate in attacking you. High effectiveness and usefulness made the medicine widely-accepted from thousand of thousands users around the world. buy cheap levitra In just a few minutes of intake, order generic levitra the medicine assures you for more fun, enjoyment and pleasure of coitus activity It has been proven as effective and safe herbal remedies for seminal discharge. Kamagra was the first Silagra that was introduced in the field of pharmacy know as buy generic sildenafil .

We import a large percent of our fresh and frozen produce from Central and South America. Those trade agreements will be affected. We pay Brazil millions each year not to tax our imports, this money comes out of the Farm Bill budget and to cancel the payment will have an influence on a wide range of manufacturers who export to that country. So should the Farm Bill expire, the ripples will be felt far outside the farming community or the supermarket.

Of the remaining issues, school lunches are the safest. Not only are they protected by law by the 1949 Act, but also by the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Education as well as state and local agencies. That leaves the Nutrition clause. Here the fight becomes, like most in Congress, all about the money, or rather the division of the money to be budgeted for the bill. The Senate actually did pass a new Farm Bill in September 2013, but the House rejected it because of the Food Stamp allotment. The timing is very poor, given the other problems facing Congress right now. I tried to learn if it was tabled or still receiving attention, but the government web sites I use as sources are shut down. In tranquil times the bill requires about 3 years to be drafted. So I can’t imagine with all debates going on at present that Congress will resolve this matter for months, let alone before January 1, 2014. I think the best we can hope for is another extension of the 2008 version. That would still be more relevant to our current economy than letting it expire and relying on the 1949 Act.

Like many Americans I am disenchanted with our government. Our democracy is supposedly built on compromise; on the ability of elected representatives, no matter how diverse their opinions to come together and mediate problems to find solutions that are the most beneficial for all the people. They are supposed to explore the grey areas to find the middle ground. Instead, it seems the officials from the red states and those from the blue states are turning the atmosphere in Congress into a bruised purple.