Harkin: Not all about program crops

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin had a press event this afternoon to remind reporters that the farm bill is more than sugar quotas, dairy supports and direct payments to program crop growers. He highlights the reform of the food stamp benefits and expansion of the fruit and vegetable program, and in the process gives the Administration a jab for objecting to f/v program expansion.
From the office of Sen. Tom Harkin:


Harkin: Farm Bill Nutrition Title Reforms Food Assistance; Expands Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program

Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today discussed the importance of the farm bill’s nutrition title at a press conference on Capitol Hill. Following is the text of his remarks, as prepared for delivery.

“This week and next, the Senate is debating the new farm bill. We must not lose sight of the fact that this is the single most important legislation for fighting hunger, promoting good nutrition, and encouraging better diets for all Americans.

“In my brief time, this morning, let me focus on two big steps forward in the new farm bill’s nutrition title: Reform of America’s biggest food assistance program, and expansion of the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program for low-income school children.

“The Food Stamp Program is long overdue for modernization and reform, and this bill updates it in important ways.

“USDA food assistance has not kept up with inflation or with changes in the real world. For instance, low-income people have the same need to save for their future as other Americans, but current rules force them to spend down their resources to rock-bottom to qualify for food assistance. These punitive rules on family assets have not been meaningfully addressed since the late 1970s.

“This bill reforms the asset rules by increasing the asset limit from $2,000 to $3,500, and also by exempting tax-preferred retirement accounts and educational savings accounts from the asset limit. According to CBO, each of these changes is expected to benefit 100,000 families.

“We also address the erosion of the purchasing power of food stamp benefits that has been occurring since the mid-1990s by increasing the standard deduction in the Food Stamp Program and indexing it for inflation. This will increase food assistance benefits by $1.4 billion over 5 years.

“There is a lot of talk around here about the importance of supporting work and helping low-income families to enter the workforce. But often, we fail to actually match our rhetoric with true support. This bill supports low-incomes families entering the workforce by increasing food stamp benefits to families with very high child care costs by eliminating the current cap on child care expenses of $175 per child per month, and allowing a full deduction for the cost of child care when calculating household income for purposes of eligibility for benefits, providing 100,000 families with an average of $40 in additional food stamp benefits each month.

“Another priority in this bill is to address poor health and nutrition among America’s children, and to confront the childhood obesity epidemic.

“To that end, this bill authorizes a major – I would say historic – expansion of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for schools, a program that I initiated in the 2002 farm bill.

“In this bill, we make a quantum leap forward for this program. Currently funded at just $9 million per year. This bill provides $1 billion over five years to expand the School Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to reach nearly 4.5 million children nationwide, with a special focus on high-poverty school districts. This is a major step toward making this program available to every elementary school in America within the next decade.

“I am very disappointed that the Statement of Administration Policy on the farm bill has cited the expansion of this program as one reason for a possible veto. That threat is just plain misguided. If the Administration chooses to argue that providing free, fresh fruits and vegetables to low-income elementary school children is a misuse of federal funds, I certainly welcome that debate.

“It’s not enough to tell kids what they can’t eat. We need to get them hooked for a lifetime on nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables. And that’s exactly what this program is doing in schools all across America.”