[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17550]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    LOCAL FARMS, FOOD, AND JOBS ACT

  (Ms. PINGREE of Maine asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, when I moved to Maine 40 years 
ago and started a little organic farm, growing and selling healthy food 
locally was out of the mainstream. It was something that the back-to-
the-land crowd was into, but here in Washington the government was 
pushing farmers to, in the words of Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz, 
``Get big or get out.''
  It turns out that kind of thinking wasn't good for family farms, it 
wasn't good for rural communities, and it wasn't good for our Nation's 
health. That's why I've introduced a bill that is intended to make it 
easier for farmers to sell food locally and regionally, make it easier 
for schools to buy healthy local food and easier for us to rebuild the 
local and regional food systems.
  Over 100 organizations and 53 of my colleagues have endorsed the 
Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act, a package of reforms to the farm bill 
that will help move our Nation's food policy in the right direction.
  Everywhere I go, people just want to know that the food they put on 
their table is healthy, fresh, and good for their family. This bill 
will help make that easier for American families.

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