[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 14, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H4094]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE BENEFITS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS

  (Ms. PINGREE of Maine asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, all over this country, small, 
independent farmers are making a living by farming in a way our parents 
or grandparents would recognize--raising high quality food and selling 
it close to home.
  The USDA recognizes the importance of this growing economy and has 
developed programs like ``Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food'' and 
research focused on local food systems. These programs are critically 
important.
  Later today, we will take up a bill that is accompanied by a report 
that will cripple these efforts with unnecessary bureaucratic 
requirements and by prohibiting research on local and regional food 
systems. That's right, the committee report actually urges USDA to stop 
doing research on the benefits of local and regional food systems.
  Mr. Speaker, more and more American families want to know where their 
food is coming from and want to buy it locally. Now is not the time to 
make it harder for small farmers to give consumers what they want.

                          ____________________