Issues of the Day

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAMMACK. Madam Speaker, last week the press--not the Department of Agriculture--reported that the Trump administration's Farmers to Families Food Box Program would come to an end.

In subsequent reporting and an unapologetic email from the USDA, it was made clear that the only reason for its termination was because of the man who created it.

The Farmers to Families Food Box Program had open eligibility, making certain anyone and everyone in need, regardless of status, income, or household size, had supplementary access to fresh meats, dairy, and produce. Since May 2020, this program has provided more than 156 million boxes to households across the United States.

Farmers to Families provided an alternative market for food intended for restaurants and food service, creating outlets for supply chains. Due to COVID this food could not easily be realigned to retail markets quickly enough to prevent spoilage. Even today, Farmers to Families provides fresh products in greater quantities than traditional emergency feeding programs--items such as dairy, meat, and fresh produce, which have always presented unique logistical challenges for distribution.

The program reemployed workers in the commercial food distribution sector whose work was halted by the closure of restaurants, hotels, and other food service industries during COVID.

In my own district, L&M Farms, a participant in the program, managed to supply more than 600,000 boxes of fresh produce to those in need.

Regardless of the various hiccups heard during USDA's listening sessions in previous hearings and from Members of this very House, the program worked exactly as intended, as a lifeline for consumers and producers alike during a challenging time.

Nine hours after the press broke the story, USDA relayed, via email, that commodity purchases will ``continue to occur and be directed to existing, reliable channels of distribution.''

This leads me to believe that locally focused producers and distributors who benefited greatly from Farmers to Families are being traded in for billion-dollar organizations that have already received billions in government aid to perpetuate dependence instead of eradicating it.

Madam Speaker, I hope this body comes together to voice their strong opposition to the termination of this small piece of salvation that had a positive impact on all of our local communities, particularly those in rural areas.

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