The Center for Science in the Public Interest opposes the partisan farm bill framework released last week by House Agriculture Committee leadership.
The bill attacks Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, cuts key climate change-focused programs, and includes measures that weaken the nutritional content of school meals. In general, this framework undermines essential programs that protect our nation’s food and nutrition security.
This framework prevents USDA from maintaining an updated Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) by requiring that the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which is the basis for calculating SNAP benefits, be “cost-neutral.” This all but guarantees that SNAP benefits won’t keep up with rising real food costs, exacerbating already high food insecurity.
The framework also cancels key climate-focused programs authorized by the Inflation Control Act, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Agricultural Conservation and Easement Program. These programs are popular and necessary to build a more resilient food system.
Finally, the House framework puts industry profits ahead of children’s health by sidestepping the science-based process behind school lunch nutrition standards. And it is being done outside of the Agriculture Commissioner’s jurisdiction, without respect for the formal child nutrition reauthorization process.
CSPI prioritizes food and nutrition security, strengthens fruit and vegetable incentive programs, and increases access to healthy foods in the charitable food system to ensure healthy and sustainable food for all Americans. We look forward to an eventual bipartisan farm bill that increases access to food.
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