While Congress is flailing—moving from one near government shutdown to another—crucial legislation that supports our communities lies in limbo.
That includes the Farm Bill, a vital legislative package responsible for funding everything from farm subsidies and SNAP benefits to international food aid, the urgency to assist war-torn countries, combat rising hunger, and protect our farmlands.
We need a strong farmer-focused Farm Bill and we need it now. For Americans, for our allies and for our planet.
Food has a powerful impact on our lives—one that goes beyond our plates. Our global food system accounts for approximately 10 percent of our global economy and nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, more than 1 billion people are employed directly by the food system—from farms and fishing vessels to meat processors, restaurants, food aid workers to waste haulers – with three times that many people living in households that support the system.
The Farm Bill is also necessary to sustain over a billion people’s livelihoods and combat malnutrition in war-torn regions. That is especially true in countries where hunger is escalating and the dangers faced by aid workers also grow. In solidarity with the chef and restaurant community, we deeply mourn the lives of the seven World Central Kitchen team members who tragically lost their lives while organizing emergency food aid in Gaza.
While potential negotiations are underway, the decisions made by the 118th Congress will impact farmers and producers at home and abroad for years to come. They will also determine the fate of women and children who rely on food assistance programs included in the bill in the United States and worldwide. The bill, which in late 2023 temporarily extended agricultural support, domestic nutrition programs, emergency feeding initiatives, and international food aid programs through September 2024, includes important provisions for these areas.
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, over 700 million people face chronic hunger worldwide, even though enough food is produced globally to feed everyone. This number grows almost daily because of the global instability caused by wars and climate-related emergencies. From the wars raging in Ukraine and Gaza to the climate disasters striking the South Pacific and the American Gulf Coast, one thing is evident: people are going increasingly hungry. We have the resources but are failing to address the problem.
Over the past decade, we’ve worked with chefs, farmers, and fishermen to find new ways to feed those displaced by disasters and to lobby for increased funding for emergency feeding programs. Whether it’s the innovative, quick-thinking, community-based organizations that continue to feed thousands daily after the tragic fires in Maui or the chef-led SWAT teams of World Central Kitchen that materialize during humanitarian crises, the local chefs, restaurant workers, and farmers can feed people wherever and whenever they are needed most.
The same applies to innovative emergency feeding programs supported by organizations like Oxfam. Across East Africa, Oxfam is working with local organizations and humanitarian networks to reach more than 1.3 million people and provide not only food, but also flexible and responsive support for hungry communities: programs like food distribution in Ethiopia’s Somali region, cash assistance for food and livestock feed in Kenya, and resources like seeds, tools, and greenhouse training in Somalia. Oxfam and its local partners provide food and flexible and responsive support for hungry communities.
But this is not enough, nor is it a sustainable solution. To tackle hunger and ensure that every child and family knows where their next meal is coming from, we need robust and decisive action and committed funding from every country – and the U.S. should be leading the way.
Congress should fully fund programs that feed people displaced by conflict and climate change and sustainably tackle hunger through programs that support agriculture development and humanitarian assistance.
The problem may be complicated, but it is solvable. This bill is crucial for labor, unions, and other facets of our society. Leaders don’t have to wait until September 2024 to pass a new Farm Bill—nor should they.
Members of Congress can and must answer President Biden’s call to transcend political impasses and come together to do what’s best for America—this includes our farmers and finding ways to feed those most in need.
We urge them to develop a Farm Bill with meaningful financial support for farmers and the increasing number of people who rely on its safety net programs at home and abroad. It simply requires a dash of political will mixed with the temerity to do what’s right for the country and the world.
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Photo courtesy of Arnaldo Aldana, Unsplash
