Tell Congress: Improve Healthy Food Access, Sponsor the Local FARMS Act

From the Union of Concerned Scientists (http://www.ucsusa.org):

Every five years, the Farm Bill—a massive legislative package that shapes our food choices and how farmers grow our food—comes up for renewal. That means that every five years, UCS supporters like you have a tremendous opportunity to transform our food system away from the flawed model of industrial agriculture, toward a smart, science-based food system that supports healthy humans, a healthy environment, and healthy economies.

One exciting new piece of legislation that would be a welcome addition to the 2018 Farm Bill package—the Local Food and Regional Market Supply (FARMS) Act—would make new investments to build local and regional food systems by helping family farmers reach new markets; increasing access to fresh, local food; and strengthening connections between producers and consumers.

The bill is ambitious and innovative: one proposal, for example, would enable healthcare providers to offer “produce prescriptions,” coupons that low-income patients can redeem for fresh produce at grocery stores and your weekly farmers market.

This proposal is the first major opportunity this Farm Bill season to make our food system more sustainable, healthy, and profitable. But in this polarized environment, the bill urgently needs cosponsors from both sides of the aisle to demonstrate widespread support for smart, science-based food and farm solutions.

Write to your members of Congress today and ask them to cosponsor the Local FARMS Act.

Over the next year, you’ll be hearing from us about how to get involved in a range of Farm Bill initiatives: efforts to protect nutrition assistance programs for low-income families, strengthen research on food and agriculture topics like agroecology, support farmers’ efforts to implement conservation practices on their land, and more.

But right now, we need your voice to lend support to the Local FARMS Act, which would be a win for farmers, consumers, and communities.

Build momentum for local and regional food systems and urge your members of Congress to cosponsor the Local FARMS Act, ensuring that this critical proposal is included in the next Farm Bill.