The Issue
Farm Policy
EWG works hard for a farm policy that does more to support family farmers, protect the environment, encourage healthy diets and ensure better access to healthy food – all while supporting working families.
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The Latest on Farm Policy
In the wake of the 2012 election, Environmental Working Group has issued the following statements on three key issues central to EWG’s mission: Federal farm policy, natural gas extraction that protects people, water and land and fixing the nation’s failed federal chemicals law.
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By now, every American is familiar with Mitt Romney’s suggestion that 47 percent of Americans are “victims” who are “dependent” on government assistance.
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Despite all the attention being paid to the farm bill by political candidates, the coming elections are not likely to be decided by agricultural policy positions. In the run-up to Election Day, you might think rural voters were looking for someone to blame for Congress’ failure to pass a farm bill.
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Compared to the billions that the government pays to subsidize industrial-scale growers of commodity crops such as corn, rice and soybeans, federal farm bill spending to promote cultivation and marketing of healthy fruits, nuts and vegetables is tiny. The Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program is one of the more important programs to support these healthy foods, known also as “specialty crops”.
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The federal Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program, though tiny compared to the billions that flow to growers of commodity crops such as corn and soy, is one of the government’s most important efforts to promote cultivation and sale of fruits, nuts and vegetables.
Read MoreConsumers are asking important and legitimate questions about what they are eating and feeding to their children.
Read MoreAn important farm bill program that provides valuable support for California’s growers and consumers of healthy fruits, vegetables and nuts would deliver greater all-around benefits if state officials address shortcomings in the process of awarding the federally-funded grants, an analysis by the Environmental Working Group shows.
Read MoreSpeaker Boehner was right to put a fork – a pitchfork – in one of the worst pieces of farm and food legislation in decades.
Read MoreEWG applauds Speaker Boehner for his wise decision to reject the terrible farm bill produced by the House Agriculture Committee.
Read MoreTomorrow (Wed., Sept. 12), lobbyists for subsidized agriculture will hold a rally on Capitol Hill to urge Congress to pass a farm bill – any farm bill, even the terrible one produced by the House Agriculture Committee.
Read MoreHigh crop prices and unlimited crop insurance subsidies contributed to the loss of more than 23 million acres of grassland, shrub land and wetlands between 2008 and 2011, wiping out habitat that sustains many species of birds and other animals and threatening the diversity of North America’s wildlife, new research by Environmental Working Group and Defenders of Wildlife shows.
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Environmental Working Group is urging members of Congress to oppose the drought package under consideration by the House because it would make deep cuts in voluntary conservation programs.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group released a statement today opposing the drought disaster package proposed by House agriculture committee leaders that would be paid for with damaging and unnecessary cuts to conservation programs. Livestock and fruit and vegetable farmers who don’t have access to federal crop insurance certainly need assistance during this historic drought. But the proposal would cut the very conservation programs that help farmers mitigate severe weather conditions. This is a shortsighted and counterproductive move.
Read MoreEWG strongly opposes a drought disaster package proposed by House agriculture committee leaders that would be paid for with damaging and unnecessary cuts to conservation programs.
Read MoreIn the face of crippling drought across the Corn Belt, Congress is considering funding a disaster aid package with cuts to climate friendly conservation programs. Even as extreme drought wreaks havoc on crops and communities across the Midwest, government officials are now confident that they can link recent bouts of extreme weather to man-made climate change.
Read MoreIn an AgMag post today, Environmental Working Group’s Scott Faber urges the full House to reject a cynical one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill because it cuts vital conservation programs and extends wasteful direct payments.
Read MoreThe one-year extension of the farm bill likely to come up on the House floor this week would perpetuate funding for the worst aspects of American farm policy and would cut funding for the best.
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The Environmental Working Group has unmasked the latest scheme to cook up a “new” farm policy that has the worst faults of the old one. In a statement released today, EWG says: "Legislation that costs more than the Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP, doesn’t stand a chance in the U.S. House of Representatives."
Read MoreLegislation that costs more than the Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP, doesn’t stand a chance in the U.S. House of Representatives. So it is no surprise that some of the same agriculture committee leaders who backed the failed “secret farm bill” gambit in the fall are now backing a new proposal to evade a floor vote by the full House and extend the current farm bill law for a year.
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