Previous Updates

Call Alert: Congress is set to vote on the Farm Bill the week of December 10. Call your senators and ask them to support the FRESH Amendment (S. 2228, now referred to as the Lugar-Lautenberg Amendment)! Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) on October 23 introduced the FRESH Amendment, a bill that would reduce federal subsidies that fund foods high in fat, cholesterol, and sugar. Currently, more than 80 percent of food production subsidies support meat, sugar, oil, dairy products, and animal feed.

As it stands, the Farm Bill does relatively little to encourage consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. If the FRESH Amendment is passed, Farm to School and Farmers' Market Promotion programs would receive more funding. Food Stamps recipients would be encouraged to use farmers' markets, and the government would initiate a pilot program giving discounts for the purchase of fruits and vegetables. The health of America’s schoolchildren would be prioritized. Under the FRESH Amendment, the government must support healthy diets when allocating food and food ingredients for school meals. The Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program would be expanded to more than 5,000 schools, and funding would increase by several times the current amount.

Please call your senators today and ask them to vote YES for the FRESH Amendment (S. 2228). Then, send a follow-up e-mail.

Watch PCRM's Farm Bill commercial.

Call Alert: Call your senators about the Farm Bill today! The Senate will be making decisions about subsidizing feed crops for the livestock industry—billions of federal dollars that keep high-fat meat and dairy products cheap and readily available—when it debates and votes on the Farm Bill this fall. Under current legislation, fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies. The Senate will also decide whether to continue to send high-fat, high-cholesterol foods into schools.

Call your senators now or dial 202-224-3121 and tell the operator which state you are from. Let your senators know that you want the Farm Bill cleaned up. Tell them to stop sending unhealthy foods into America’s schools. It’s time to for our government to stop financing meat and dairy products, which contribute to America’s growing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other diet-related illnesses. After you’ve made your calls, send a follow-up e-mail.

Update on the Farm Bill: On July 27, the House of Representatives passed the Farm Bill. Although the Fairness Amendment (described below) did not pass, it did bring much needed attention to the problems with the current Farm Bill. Most importantly, it motivated members of Congress to make some very important and positive changes to the Farm Bill itself at the very last minute. The “Pet Safety and Protection Act,” which would ban federal support of “random-source dealers” who sell cats and dogs from unknown origins to research labs, was turned into an amendment and attached to the Farm Bill—and passed. Members of Congress also passed a bill that would make the use of live animals in medical devise demonstrations illegal.

In September or October, the Farm Bill will be debated and voted on in the Senate. Stay tuned for further updates.

Update on the "Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment": The House of Representatives voted on the “Fairness in Food and Farm Policy Amendment” to the Farm Bill on the evening of July 26. The amendment did not pass (the vote was 117 to 309), but it did bring much needed attention to the problems with the current Farm Bill. We appreciate everyone who called and e-mailed their representative about this important amendment. Click here to find out how your representative voted.

The “Fairness in Farm and Food Policy” Amendment was offered by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Reps. Kind and Flake took many of the provisions from FARM 21 and put them in the Fairness Amendment, which would have limited government subsidies of unhealthy foods, cut subsidies to millionaire farmers, and provided more money for nutrition and food assistance programs for Americans and impoverished children overseas.

NEWS ARTICLE: PCRM president Neal Barnard, M.D., joined members of various public interest and faith groups at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, July 25, to urge every member of the House of Representatives to vote YES on Rep. Ron Kind’s Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment to the 2007 Farm Bill. Click here to read The New York Times article about the news conference, which includes a picture of Dr. Barnard (he’s standing directly behind Rep. Kind, who is speaking at the podium in the picture).   

Update on HR 2720, the “Healthy Food Bill”: HR 2720, also known as FARM 21, is no longer being voted on by the House of Representatives. We are now asking Congress to vote for the "Fairness in Farm and Food Policy" Amendment to the Farm Bill (see above).

Update on Section 123 of the Farm Bill: Section 123 has been removed from the Farm Bill. Section 123 would have weakened food safety and animal welfare policies by prohibiting hundreds of state and local laws that provide greater protections than federal laws. Thanks to everyone who called and e-mailed their representative about this issue!

*Look up your state and federal elected officials. If you want to contact your elected officials through our action alerts, our computer system will automatically fill in their names and contact information.*

Media Center | Health | Research | About PCRM | Catalog | Join Us | Search | Site Index | Home

The site does not provide medical or legal advice. This Web site is for information purposes only.
Full Disclaimer | Privacy Policy