The Farm Bill Uprooted IATP
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- Society & Culture
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Every five years, Congress comes together to pass a major omnibus bill called the Farm Bill, which sets the course for our food and agriculture system in the U.S. 2023 is one of those Farm Bill years. In this 6-part podcast series from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, hear from policy experts, farmers and advocates about how the Farm Bill works, how it’s shaped our food system -- for better or for worse -- and how we can start to try to fix it.
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Episode Six: Solutions
In Episode Six of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from experts from across the food system on what changes are needed in the 2023 Farm Bill and beyond. From nutrition access to fair markets to climate resilience, a better food system is possible; it’s up to us to demand it.
References and Further Reading:
Closing the Meal Gap Act
Improving Access to Nutrition Act
Enhanced Access to SNAP Act
Hot Foods Act
Meat Packing Special Investigator Act
Farm System Reform Act
Fairness for Small Farmers Act
EQIP Improvement Act
Agriculture Resilience Act
RAFI-USA Marker Bill Tracker
Why we need an Agricultural Market Volatility Relief Program -
Episode 5: Insecure
The Farm Bill shapes our food and farm system in the U.S., and, through the Nutrition Title, helps millions of Americans afford food. But with nutrition assistance programs like SNAP vulnerable to cuts, and rural food access weakened by decades of corporate consolidation, how well is the Farm Bill really serving eaters? In Episode Five of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from IATP's Erin McKee VanSlooten, Kate Hansen of the Center for Rural Affairs and Marcus Grignon of the Rural Coalition, on what's needed to rebuild community-based food systems and create a Farm Bill that's by and for the people.
References and Further Reading:
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Farm Bill priorities
Food Price Outlook, 2023 and 2024, (2023) USDA Economic Research Center
A Short History of SNAP, USDA
A Quick Guide to SNAP Eligibility and Benefits, (2023) Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
Minnesota Department of Agriculture Farm to School Grant Evaluation, (2023) IATP & UMN -
Episode 4: Consolidated
Over the past few decades, the landscape of the food and farm system has become more concentrated, less diverse and less resilient. In Episode Four of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment’s (CFFE) Patty Lovera and Iowa Interfaith Power and Light’s (IIPL) Elston Tortuga about how corporate consolidation in the food system has impacted farmers and rural communities, and how Farm Bill reforms can help.
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Episode 3: Discredited
How does credit access shape our food and agriculture system? In Episode Three of the Farm Bill Uprooted, hear from IATP’s Dr. Steve Suppan, along with Margaret Krome-Lukens and Ray Jeffers of RAFI-USA, about how the Farm Bill Credit Title both undermines climate resilience by propping up the industrial model of production and reinforces a history of racism in American agriculture.
Learn more about RAFI-USA, NFFC and the Fair Credit for Farmers Act. -
Episode 2: Polluted
After decades of Farm Bill policy incentivizing the overproduction of commodity crops, conventional agriculture in the U.S. has taken an increasing toll on water, soil and the climate — and on farmers’ own ability to withstand extreme weather and climate disruptions. Episode Two of the Farm Bill Uprooted features IATP’s Michael Happ and the University of Iowa’s Dr. Silvia Secchi on industrial agriculture’s environmental impacts and the Conservation Title programs meant to address them.
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Episode 1: Overgrown
How do we ensure fair prices for farmers and consumers while building climate resilience, protecting the environment and sustaining rural communities? And what happens when Farm Bill policies incentivize the opposite approach? Hear from IATP’s Ben Lilliston and Karen Hansen-Kuhn in Episode One of the Farm Bill Uprooted, which dives into Farm Bill basics, and how it’s shaped a food and farm system dominated by commodity production and overgrown corporate agribusiness interests.
References and further reading:
USDA ERS, Food Access Research Atlas
USDA ERS, Key Statistics and Graphics
About half of US water 'too polluted' for drinking, swimming or fishing, report finds. The Hill. Shirin Ali, 2022.
Food fight: The Citizen’s Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill. Daniel Imhoff, 2012.
The new deal’s impacts on sharecropping and tenant farming in the US South: a history Michael Sligh, 2021.
Crisis by Design: A Brief Review of U.S. Farm Policy. Mark Richie & Kevin Ristau, 1987.
Customer Reviews
Thank you for producing this
Hugely informative, presented in concise, well connected, and historically contextualized episodes.
If you work in any part of the agriculture space this is a must listen.
Great primer on the Farm Bill
I took a 2 hour class just on the Farm Bill, and this pretty much covers it while also giving you the perspective of what’s best for people and the environment.