House Ag nutrition subcommittee amendments

The House Agriculture Committee has reported on the amendments passed by the nutrition subcommittee.

Note the new name for Food Stamps. During the Web broadcast of the hearing one member argued against a new name for the program. He said it took years to build the "Food Stamps" brand to the public, and worried that changing the name to a new acronym may create a disconnect between the public and the program. He was the only dissent, however, and the new name - Secure Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - passed with ease.

From the news release:

Chairman Baca and Ranking Member Bonner's amendment to rename the Food Stamp Program as the "Secure Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program."
. Congressman Steve Kagen's amendment to establish a competitive grant program to develop and test solutions to the rising rate of obesity in the U.S. and to strengthen efforts to integrate nutrition education into the Food Stamp Program.
. Chairman Baca and Congressman Boustany's amendment to express the findings of Congress that Food Stamp Nutrition Education plays an essential role in dietary practices of low income Americans by providing public health and educational resources and to encourage State Food Stamp programs to use effective strategies to implement Food Stamp Nutrition Education.. The Amendment also directs USDA to support and encourage Food Stamp Nutrition Education and to promote the coordination of State Food Stamp Nutrition Education with other federally funded public health programs.
. Chairman Joe Baca's amendment to express the findings of Congress that products purchased for school lunch programs should meet the current requirements for the Federal Buy American guidelines.


TK: Remember you can access the House Ag Committee Web site on the farm bill here.

ICE breaker

In my position, I deal with a lot of government public affairs spokespeople. Not too long ago I visited with one of the more helpful ones I have come across; . Pat Reilly, spokeswoman with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

My original question to her related to ICE raids on agriculture. Reilly said the ICE doesn't keep sector specific statistics on raids and enforcement actions

One of the good things she did was help me navigate the ICE Web site. A key page for the ICE site is found at this link to fact sheets. One of the links on that page, Worksite enforcement, has a summary of recent actions.

I asked her if agriculture was more easily targeted than a hotel in Los Vegas or other hospitality venues.

"It is not the ease of the target, it is the possibility of illegal activity that brings in a a work site enforcement." she said.

"If you look at a summary of our cases, they are generally in labor intensive and lightly skilled areas, where you need a lot of people but the training is relatively light. "

With the exception of the Swift Co. investigation, all of the dozen or so worksite enforcement actions in the past year or so have resulted in charges against one or more officers of those companies employing illegals. And the Swift Co. investigation continues. Reilly said Fresh Del Monte will subject to an investigation for some time.

"No pun intended, but these investigations work their way up the food chain." she said.

She had more to say about no-match Social Security letters, and how employers who are known to hire illegals are a magnet to potential workers in Mexico. More on those topics later.

Where's the beef?

As I was listening to the House subcommittee markup on nutrition today, one of the representatives started to complain about the reserve money(or lack thereof) in the farm bill. I don't have a recording of the exchange, but he objected to the fact that lawmakers were debating nuances in programs that have been allocated funds that don't even exist; so called reserve or contingent dollars. Where will the money come from?

Well, House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson has said that repeal of oil company tax breaks could net a couple of billion dollars, but beyond that, it seems to be an open question. Will lawmakers eventually point out the king is wearing no clothes? If raiding commodity programs is out - and raiding nutrition programs is certainly out of the question - where will the money for f/v priorities come from?

We should know more about Peterson's plan by the end of the month. Somehow, some way, Peterson's $2 billion in offsets must grow to something like $20 billion. The good produce people will say then, "Where's the beef?"

Ag labor enforcement

It is difficult to find sector by sector analysis of ICE raids on employers. Here is a link passed on by a Fresh Talk reader and Fresh Produce Discussion Group member describing overall employer actions during the past several years. Here in the newsroom and the discussion board, we were trying to recall the produce-related immigration enforcement actions publicized in the past ten years.

In the absence of hard numbers, one Fresh Produce discussion group member had this thought:

I've long been curious because my perception is that is a lot less politically and logistically problematic to raid workers in open fields and warehouse type factories than to raid half of the hotels in Las Vegas without disturbing customers, among other things. However, without the figures, don't know if in fact, the agricultural and food industries are or have been easy pickings.


TK: Our reader, Luis, makes an interesting point. Agriculture fields and agribusiness facilities appear to be easier targets than high-rise hotels, casinos or other venues in the hospitality biz. Is this apparent enforcement bias supported by fact? I'll put a call into ICE and see if they can elaborate.

Cardoza reprise

I just finished transcribing an interview I did a couple of days ago with Rep. Dennis Cardoza. I may post it to the Google Discussion group later in the day, and of course, it will run on The Packer's opinion page this week.

A couple of notable things. He has told House Agriculture Committee chairman Peterson that the specialty crop industry needs more than what it has received so far, particularly in the area of specialty crop block grants. However, Cardoza believes if the farm bill denigrates to one sector raiding another sector for funds, no farm bill at all may be passed.

Cardoza remains firmly set against the Administration's plan to remove the fruit and vegetable planting restriction on flex acres. Taking it out, he said, could leave a $3-5 billion hole in the specialty crop industry that could not be filled in this farm bill.

The House Ag nutrition subcommittee markup is today. While not the full $300 million ask, the House subcommittee provided a hefty $100 million for the fruit and vegetable program - albeit in contingency funds.