Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007

Floor Speech

FARM, NUTRITION, AND BIOENERGY ACT OF 2007

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of section 10404 of the 2007 Farm Bill, which would provide $35 million in funding over the next five years for farmers' markets through the Farmer Marketing Assistance Program. This provision also designates that 10 percent of the funding will be used to support the use of Electronic Benefits Transfer, EBT, technology at farmers' markets. I want to thank Representative Kagen for his leadership and his amendment to the bill that strengthens our nation's farmers' markets and provides much needed resources for food stamp recipients to use their benefits at farmers' markets. I also appreciate his working with me on this issue.

As someone who regularly shops at a farmers' market in my hometown of Evanston, IL, I have seen first hand that farmers' markets are a positive force wherever they crop up, providing consumers with fresh food options, preserving family farms, increasing health and nutrition and connecting urban and rural Americans. Direct marketing of farm products has ballooned in recent years from 1,755 farmers markets in 1994 to over 4,385 in 2006. These markets average $245,000 per year in revenue, with the typical farmer netting about $7,108. Even though farmers' markets are highly seasonal, 25 percent of vendors rely on them as their sole source of farm-based income.

Even as farmers' markets are expanding to unprecedented numbers, the 2006 USDA Farmers' Market Survey found that only 6 percent of these markets have implemented EBT technology. In my home city of Chicago, we only have one farmers' market that can accept EBT cards: the Logan Square market became the first farmers' market in Illinois just last month. However, at a time when obesity, food insecurity and chronic illnesses impact millions of low-income Americans, most still cannot use their food stamp benefits to purchase nutritious food at farmers' markets.

This past May, I participated in the Food Stamp Challenge and lived on the national average food stamp benefit for one week. Even though the $3 per day allotment was inadequate, I had the good fortune of access to nearby grocery stores. Millions of Americans, however, have no grocery stores near their homes and live in what are known as "food deserts.'' In fact, a 2004 study by Mississippi State University found that in the midwest, 34 percent of Americans live in food deserts, with this percentage approaching 50 percent in western States. Investments in farmers' markets are a low-cost solution to the crisis of food deserts and provide new options for Americans who currently have limited access to healthy food.

In 2006, USDA received over $15 million in grant applications from farmers' markets across the country under the Farmer Marketing Assistance Program and with only $1 million in available funds, it was only able to meet a fraction of the need. That represents a tremendous missed opportunity to improve the health of Americans. Today's raising of funding of the Farmer Marketing Assistance Program to $35 million over 5 years will help us get closer to meeting the need we know is out there. I urge my colleagues to pass the 2007 Farm Bill, which includes the Kagen Amendment, and to retain this important measure in Conference.

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