[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14658]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      FOOD AND FARM BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, Congress is in the process of updating 
the Nation's agricultural policy for the first time since 2002 to see 
if it can serve the interests of all America's farmers and ranchers. 
This is more than a farm bill, it is a food bill as well. Everyone who 
eats is affected by our food and farm policy.
  Michael Pollan explained how the farm bill is the reason that a 
package of Twinkies, which contains 39 complex ingredients, costs less 
than a bunch of carrots straight from the farm. The farm bill should 
serve all Americans, not just a few special interests.
  Today, 70 percent of the payments go to the richest 10 percent of the 
farmers, while 60 percent of America's farmers and ranchers get no 
support whatsoever.
  It is time for a food and farm bill of rights that provides a 
comprehensive guide to reform the farm bill. We must move beyond the 
policies that were written for the Depression or the 1950s to one 
designed for the world we live in today; and, more important, the world 
we want to live in tomorrow.

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