110 HR 2401 IH: To provide for greater access and opportunities for U.S. House of Representatives 2007-05-21 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2401 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 21, 2007 Mr. Baca (for himself, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Solis, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Ortiz, Ms. Velázquez, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Sires, Mr. Fortuño, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Cuellar, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Salazar, and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for greater access and opportunities for socially disadvantaged farmers, to create incentives for research, conservation, and market viability, to provide a healthy and just work environment for agricultural workers, to provide Americans with healthier food choices, to address hunger and poverty in the United States, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title and table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Nutrition and Opportunities for the Underserved and Rural Incentives to Secure the Heartland Act of 2007 or the NOURISH Act of 2007. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Title I—Policy to Promote Involvement of Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Sec. 101. Establishment. Sec. 102. Administration. Sec. 103. Eligibility. Sec. 104. Producer payment structure. Sec. 105. Technical assistance. Sec. 106. Duties of the Secretary. Title II—Review of Pending Foreclosures Sec. 201. USDA Minority Producer Land Preservation Commission. Sec. 202. Requirement that foreclosure notices include information about the Commission. Title III—Outreach, Transparency, and Accountability Sec. 301. Outreach, transparency, and accountability. Sec. 302. Improved data requirements. Sec. 303. Expansion of support for Hispanic-serving institutions. Title IV—Farm Worker and Competitiveness Provisions Subtitle A—Pesticides Sec. 401. Pesticides. Subtitle B—Office of Farmworker Coordination Sec. 411. Office of Farmworker Coordination. Subtitle C—Major Disaster Assistance Programs Sec. 421. Emergency grants to assist low-income migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Subtitle D—Agricultural Fair Practices Sec. 431. Agricultural fair practices. Sec. 432. Application. Title V—Conservation Sec. 501. Conservation access initiative to encourage greater participation by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in conservation programs. Sec. 502. Other diversity provisions. Sec. 503. Conservation reserve program. Sec. 504. Reauthorization of and increased enrollment authority for grassland reserve program. Sec. 505. Environmental quality incentives program. Sec. 506. Reauthorization of and increased funding for wildlife habitat incentive program. Sec. 507. Integrated pest management initiative. Sec. 508. Value Added Funding and Technical Assistance. Title VI—Healthy Food Choices Sec. 601. Findings. Sec. 602. Reauthorization of and increased funding for community food project competitive grants. Sec. 603. Expansion of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Sec. 604. Authorization level for farm-to-cafeteria activities. Sec. 605. Extension of WIC farmers’ market nutrition program. Sec. 606. Senior farmers’ market nutrition program. Sec. 607. Farmers’ market promotion program. Sec. 608. Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture procurement of locally produced agricultural products. Sec. 609. Fruit and vegetable nutrition promotion program. Sec. 610. Use of Dietary Guidelines for Americans in special nutrition programs and school lunch programs. Sec. 611. Section 32 specialty crop purchases. Sec. 612. Administration of Food Stamp Program. Title VII—Promotion of New Markets and Farm Viability Sec. 701. National organic certification and transition cost share program. Title VIII—Rural Regional Investment Initiative Sec. 801. Rural regional investment initiative. Sec. 802. Rural regional entrepreneurship program. Title IX—Nutrition Sec. 901. Renaming the Food Stamp Program. Subtitle A—Improving Benefit Adequacy Sec. 911. Strengthening the food purchasing power of low-income Americans. Sec. 912. Supporting working families with child care expenses. Sec. 913. Exclusion of combat-related military pay from countable income. Sec. 914. Increasing the minimum benefit. Subtitle B—Improving food security and simplifying program operations Sec. 921. Allowable countable resources. Sec. 922. Exclusion of retirement accounts from countable financial resources. Sec. 923. Exclusion of education accounts from countable financial resources. Sec. 924. Simplifying work requirement. Sec. 925. Fairness for legal immigrants. Sec. 926. Clarifying eligibility. Sec. 927. Ensuring proper screening. Sec. 928. Clarification of simplified administrative reporting requirement. Subtitle C—Connecting Eligible Families and Individuals to Food Stamps Sec. 931. Facilitating simplified reporting. Sec. 932. State option for telephonic signature. Sec. 933. Reauthorization of Food Stamp Program and food distribution program on Indian reservations. Sec. 934. Access to benefits. Sec. 935. Outreach grants. Sec. 936. Improving program operations and program effectiveness. Sec. 937. Improving performance bonuses for States. Sec. 938. Supporting State efforts during natural disasters. Sec. 939. Addressing hunger in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Sec. 940. Study on comparable access to food stamp benefits for Puerto Rico. Sec. 941. Expanding the use of food stamps at farmers’ markets. Subtitle D—Supporting the Emergency Food Bank Network and Other Community Partners Sec. 951. Commodities for the emergency food assistance program. Sec. 952. Accountable program administration.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Latinos are the fasting growing population of new farmers, increasing by over 40,000 from 1992–2002. They run diversified operations largely producing cattle, fresh fruit and vegetables and other diverse products that are not covered by Federal agricultural programs. As a result, approximately 90 percent of Latino farmers and ranchers do not benefit from the commodity program payments, which consume half of all farm spending. These and other immigrant farmers represent the future of American Agriculture and with support can meet the growing demand from consumers for local and ethnic specialty crops, and protect fertile farmland from sprawling urban development. (2)The loss of farmers and farmland for small and mid-sized farmers farming along the urban edge, especially Latino and other socially disadvantaged farmers, who have experienced a long history of discrimination, is a growing threat to the future of American agriculture. Farms provide valuable environmental benefits to our urban communities by preserving open space and the quality of our air and water and protecting wild life habitat. The 2007 Farm Bill should ensure that small and mid-sized producers, particularly Latino and other socially disadvantaged producers, have access to farmland protection, conservation, research and other programs that ensure their viability, while providing incentives and support for beginning farmers. (3)The Nation’s 2.5 million migrant and seasonal farm workers produce the food found on the dinner tables of all Americans. Despite these contributions, farm workers suffer from the highest rate of toxic chemical injuries of any workers in the United States and earn only $10,000 to $12,500 per year, working long hours under strenuous conditions. Thirteen states do not require farm workers to be covered by workers’ compensation coverage for on-the-job injuries and only eight percent of farm workers reported that their employers provided them with any health insurance. Many farm workers also face substandard housing conditions due to high cost, physical deficiencies or over crowding. The 2007 Farm Bill should improve farm worker safety and health, particularly as it relates to toxic pesticides and expanded research on farm worker health and safety. (4)Current Federal farm policies also do too little to promote outreach and to serve Latino farmers and operators. Barriers include a failure to provide service that is linguistically and culturally appropriate, a failure to recognize farm experience gained through work as a farm worker or as a farmer in their nation of origin. (5)As a growing sector within agriculture, Latino and other socially disadvantaged farmers need new programs to help them catch up with other farmers who have had access to more benefits and services, as well as policies and programs that will hold United States Department of Agriculture accountable for provided equitable access to programs. (6)A major problem facing low-income communities and communities of color across the United States is lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods. Whether in their retail shops or school cafeterias’, many Americans lack opportunities to make healthy food choices-contributing to alarming increases in rates of obesity and diet related disease. If current trends continue, one in three Caucasian children, and one in two African American and Latino children in America will have diabetes by the time they are eighteen. The 2007 Farm Bill should help reverse the alarming trends of poor health and failing farms by linking the food access needs of consumers with the needs of specialty crop producers, through innovative nutrition, marketing and distribution programs. (7)With hunger and food insecurity on the rise we must strengthen the safety-net for food insecure families. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 38 million people in America live with hunger or the threat of hunger, including 14 million children. Yet at the same time, a large percentage of eligible families do not participate in the Food Stamp Program. The Farm Bill must include a strong nutrition title that helps families in need put food on the table.

.

432.

Application

The amendment made by section 101 applies to any contract entered into on or after the date of enactment of this Act.