April 27, 2012 – New York, NY – Yesterday with wide bipartisan support, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 (also known as the Farm Bill), which for the first time will officially establish a national Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) at the United States Department of Agriculture with $125 million. The inclusion of HFFI is a significant win for community leaders from across the country seeking to bring healthy food and jobs to their communities. PolicyLink and its partners, The Reinvestment Fund, and The Food Trust, along with local, state and national healthy food advocates, have been working for many years to expand fresh food access in underserved areas throughout the U.S.
This is very exciting legislation! Read the full press release here. You can also check out the full contents of the Farm Bill here. It helps better protect farmers against disproportionate risk, consolidates and streamlines existing programs, improves accountability and program integrity with checks on how tax dollars are being used and public benefits being accessed, and will grow America’s agricultural economy. And, it reduces debt.
Thumbs up, government!
Jen Bokoff 