154 Groups Urge Senate to Reject Republican Budget

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Feb 28, 2011 at 16:09:54 PM PST

In a year of relatively high farm income, the House has focused its cuts instead upon programs that protect the environment, increase economic opportunity, serve beginning and minority farmers, and ensure proper nutrition for low-income families.

The letter leaves out another problematic result of the House budget: it is projected to shrink our 2012 GDP by 2 percent and could cost the country 700,000 jobs. If it happens, that will hit home for farmers and eaters alike.

See the letter and the groups that signed below.

The Budget: What's In It For Ag

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Feb 27, 2011 at 11:19:24 AM PST

Then there's the Republican's budget in the House, and that's a 2011 budget. If you recall, Congress never passed a budget for 2011 in the last session, instead they just continued the 2010 budget into 2011 and more or less procrastinated doing anything else... until now. The clock is ticking and if they don't pass SOMETHING within days, the government will shut down. I'm of the mind that that's what the Republicans actually want... so long as they can blame the Democrats for it.

More below about where ag fits in.

Deficit Hysteria and School Lunch

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 13:49:14 PM PDT

Obama Proposes Budget, Pushes GMOs, and Falls Short on School Lunch Reform

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 06:00:00 AM PST

Unlike other nutrition programs (such as food stamps) that are entitlements, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) must have funds appropriated by Congress. For entitlement programs, the government spends as much money as it takes to pay for everyone who is eligible for the program. That's not the case for WIC. And when the economy is down (as it is now), the number of people eligible for WIC goes up. (To be eligible for WIC, you must be a pregnant or breastfeeding mom or a child under age 5 with a household income of less than 185% of the federal poverty level.)

After splitting out part of the extra $1 billion for WIC, according to Kim Severson of the New York Times, the remaining money for school lunch amounts to less than 20 cents per meal. Quite frankly, this is pathetic. The School Nutrition Association asked Congress for an extra 35 cents per meal, and I thought THAT was pathetic. This is far worse. Tom Philpott agrees (and cleverly references the Depression-era hit song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"... or two dimes in this case).

In other parts of his proposed budget, Obama gives a record amount to ag & food research (much of which will go to biotech), money to promote agricultural exports, and (the one bright spot) conservation money for Chesapeake Bay.

Among the USDA's goals, he ironically lists "Ensure that all of America's children have access to safe, nutritious and balanced meals." (A great idea, if only he would fund it!) And, sadly, he says "Help America to promote agricultural production and biotechnology exports as America works to increase food security." Dumping cheap commodities on other countries to undermine their food sovereignty is bad in itself, but a specific emphasis on biotechnology by the Obama administration is especially upsetting.

See Obama's budget fact sheet below...

Congress to Pass Agriculture Budget Today

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Oct 07, 2009 at 09:30:32 AM PDT

• $5 million to promote breastfeeding to WIC mothers
• $8 million to improve nutrition & physical activity in child care centers
• $25 million in grant money for schools to buy equipment for their kitchens
• $85 million for pilot projects in the Summer Food Service Program

The House Education & Labor Committee put out a statement saying:

Children should not have to go hungry - and they should have access to nutritious foods that will help them thrive physically and academically. In this difficult economic climate, the federal child nutrition programs have an increasingly important role to play in providing children with healthy meals while at school, childcare, or during the summer months. Over 32 million children each year are served by these programs. For many children, these meals may be the only healthy foods they receive during the day.

Research shows that children who are hungry have a harder time paying attention and learning in the classroom. Low-income children are also at greater risk of going hungry or becoming overweight, during the summer months. Providing children with access to healthier, nutritious foods at school, child care, summer programs, or other educational settings is vital to our efforts to help all children learn, succeed and grow.

House Passes Budget Increases for FDA! (Thank You Rosa DeLauro!)

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) told DeLauro that "We're stealing our grandchildren's future by spending so much money," and introduced an amendment to keep funding levels the same. (Wait - wasn't he the guy who wanted to make 2010 the Year of the Bible? Are we supposed to pray the E. coli away?) DeLauro replied that Broun's proposal "in fact would put this agency back in jeopardy. We just cannot afford to neglet our food safety system any longer." Hell yeah, Rep. DeLauro!!!

(I have an idea for Broun - why don't we save our grandkids' money by no longer buying more F-22 fighter jets for the military... these things are the ultimate pork. They have parts made in 44 different states, so Congress keeps ordering more planes to create jobs in their states even though the military says NO MORE F-22s! The F-22 was made to fight the Soviets - but it's not just that they are outdated. They are also complete crap. They only fly an average of 1.7 hours at a time before breaking down! Let's use the money the House just set aside for F-22s for food safety instead.)

Back to the FDA budget story, here's some more info on the budget from the WSJ:

Much of the increase in funding will target food safety initiatives, an area where the FDA has faced numerous challenges in the last year amid concerns as to how the agency responded to a variety of foodborne health problems involving peanuts, pet food and hot peppers. Rep. DeLauro said it will allow the FDA to review more food that enters the country's borders and hire an additional 1,150 foreign and domestic inspections.

Hell Yeah Congressman Hinchey! You Tell 'Em! (Plus, A Look at the 2010 Obama Ag Budget)

by: Jill Richardson

Fri May 15, 2009 at 13:00:00 PM PDT

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., told Vilsack at a House appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that livestock are "jammed together" in "very, very nasty circumstances." ...

Hinchey asked Vilsack if there is an effort to "reform" livestock farming to "stop these animals from coming so close together."

Vilsack's response? A very diplomatic statement about how most farmers care very much about their livestock and that the USDA is looking into it. Mmm hmm. This is the same thing we hear from factory farmers and their lobby groups constantly. They talk about how well they treat the animals and they frequently use the words "wholesome" and "high quality." What's so wholesome about animals standing shoulder to shoulder, ankle deep in their own manure?

This hearing was on the 2010 budget for the USDA. Vilsack provided testimony outlining the Obama administration's budget requests. I'm going to turn to the experts to understand the budget, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Highlights from their email on the budget are below.

The Depressed Kitchen: Pie, Politeness, Budgets

by: makettle

Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 11:57:32 AM PDT

Those of you following the diaries will know that it takes 3 incomes to keep the Kettles above water due to my house burning down a couple of years back. This week I was let go from my part time job. We knew it was coming, and I thought I had cried it all off already, but when the Dean was on the phone explaining that it really wasn't her fault, (not that it matters), I began to blubber all over again. How much can one person cry!? Sometimes I am just a big fat baby. So, I have enough work to keep the family fed up until Fall. I am looking for more work, but PoliSci/History instructors truly are a dime a dozen. I have a suspicion I was let go less for monetary concerns and more for my progressive voice in all things, but it is only a suspicion. Pa says I should call HR and find out; I told him that when I stop crying about it I might.

Vilsack axes $500K in USDA consulting contracts

by: desmoinesdem

Wed Mar 04, 2009 at 13:32:40 PM PST

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he killed about half a million dollars worth of consulting contracts approved by Bush administration political appointees near the end of President Bush's term.

"The career folks who watched this process unfold in the last waning days of the last administration were very concerned about the process-the connections and relationships between people receiving this half a million dollar contract and what they intended to do with the resource which the career folks felt was unnecessary and inappropriate," Vilsack said during a guest appearance at the daily White House press briefing. "They made a very strong and powerful case to me that the process was not followed as it should have been."

Vilsack did not explain precisely what consulting the contract was to involve, but he said it seemed unnecessary.

"I didn't see any value to USDA from it. I will tell you it was rather startling to see that a substantial amount of money had already been spent on foreign travel under circumstances we did not think was appropriate," the secretary said.

More details are at the Politico. Thanks to my fellow Iowa blogger Chris Woods for bringing the story to my attention.

On a broader scale, President Barack Obama announced today that he has told all the heads of government agencies to restrict no-bid contracts and crack down on wasteful contracts.