Farm Bill

The HEAL Food Alliance is calling on the 118th Congress to craft Farm Bill legislation that supports thriving futures for all people and our planet. We strongly feel that Congress should address our policy recommendations (endorsed by over 150 diverse organizations) in the next Farm Bill.

The farm bill is some of the most powerful federal legislation shaping the United States’ food and farm system. It impacts all of us living here, as well as communities around the world.

In a nutshell, the Farm Bill is a collection of food and agriculture laws, programs, and funding that congress passes every 5 to 7 years. It determines what food farmers grow, what consumers eat, and how we access food. Because of the central role food plays in our economy and our daily lives, the farm bill impacts our health, our jobs, our environment, and for many, even where we live.

A lot of people assume that our food and farm system operates in an open market, where farmers grow what consumers want to eat, and consumers pay for that food. In reality, the farm bill is what really pays for large portions of what we eat and how that food is grown, harvested, processed, and transported. The farm bill is funded by the federal government – aka us taxpayers. Its our bill. (The most recent farm bill cost about $428 billion).

Many of the programs we pay for in the farm bill help the public. For example, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), helps working families get the food they need. However, big portions of farm bill money go to a handful of large farming corporations, known as “agribusiness” or “industrial agriculture.”

When the government helps pay for something, it is called a “subsidy” or “subsidizing.” While subsidies can be helpful to working people and their families, subsidies to corporations can be harmful to those same families.

For decades, the majority of the large farming corporations that the government subsidizes have damaged the soil, water, and air that we depend on to live.

They drive small farmers out of business, worsen our health, and keep food prices high. They also provide dangerous working conditions and pay very low wages to working people.

As a result, many people in our society, especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), rural communities, and working families suffer first and worst from damage inflicted by these few, greedy corporations.

Historically, other programs in the farm bill have also benefited large-scale white farmers, while harming Black, Indigenous, and other farmers of color. Because of the reach of the farm bill, this has had severe consequences, including many Black and Indigenous farmers losing their land.

Subsidizing agribusiness has also caused these big corporations to become bigger and bigger. The big corporations use their political and economic power to manipulate and control our food system.

Today, very few powerful corporations control our food system. Fortunately, many people are working hard to ensure the farm bill benefits Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, working people, and our communities — not just a few big corporations.