Federal Farm Bill Matters in New Hampshire

The total price tag of a farm bill that was supposed to be passed last year is more than 280 billion dollars. But while payments to agribusiness have caused the delay, about two-thirds of the money in the bill are not part of that dispute -- the money that goes to food stamps and other nutrition programs.

Both the senate and house include increases. Michelle Garron with the New Hampshire Food Bank says a hike in the food stamp program would make the biggest difference for the people the Food Bank serves.

CUT: We all see the rising cost of food so we need to make sure that food stamps are aligned with that. And right now, they’re not.”

Key elements in the food stamp program, such the minimum benefit, haven’t changed in 30 years. The House version would add about 11 billion dollars – the senate – about half that much.

A smaller ticket item, at least in the grand scheme of things, is 100 million new dollars for the USDA emergency food assistance program. That provides basic items such as meat, rice and beans. Doug O’Brien, in Washington to lobby on behalf of food banks through the group, America’s Second Harvest, says food banks face chronic shortages, due primarily to the loss of donations from private food companies.

CUT: That shortage is likely to continue and the Farm Bill will provide at least some relief. So it matters a great deal to 10’s of thousands of people in NH, VT, and ME and really throughout northern New England.

With large scale donations drying up, increasingly, food banks are trying to make better use of fresh food. The one in New Hampshire is counting on the farm bill to help with that too. They are about to build a kitchen where they can cook and then freeze perishables. Operations Manager Garron says there are times when they suddenly find themselves with a hundred pounds of potatoes and a hundred pounds of fish.

CUT: We can manufacture that into some type of fish chowder or some type of meal that’s nutritious and very usable for them.

The NH food bank has its eye on a federal line item for community grants to keep the kitchen running.

Beyond the food and nutrition programs, the Farm Bill will affect dairy farmers and land conservation efforts.

For NHPR News, I’m Jon Greenberg.