House Narrowly Passes Farm Bill

The House narrowly passed the Farm Bill yesterday on a vote of 213-211, with no support from Democrats.

A similar bill was voted on last month and failed as members of the Freedom Caucus withheld votes in order to force a vote on an immigration bill. That bill was debated, and defeated, in a vote earlier Thursday, clearing the way for the farm bill to be reconsidered. Democrats withheld their votes for the previous Farm Bill because it would have enforced stricter working requirements for food stamp recipients.

Passing the House farm bill clears the way for House and Senate negotiations to begin as soon as July on a final version of the legislation, so long as the Senate goes forward with plans to debate its version of the bill next week.  MWFPA, in conjunction with the American Fruit and Vegetable Processors and Growers Coalition, is seeking an amendment to the Senate version expanding the USDA’s  Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) to allow schools the option of serving fruits and vegetables whether they are fresh, frozen, canned or dried.

Current law promotes foreign fruits and vegetables over American grown, limits choice of a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables and ties the hands of school nutritionist as they try to provide healthy choices for school kids.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *