Food Day, October 24

Floor Speech

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, October 24, is Food Day, a nationwide movement to promote healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food; and next week, Congress will begin the process of reconciling the House and Senate farm bills.

I know this is a big job, but I want to urge my colleagues to work to come up with a farm bill that promotes healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food.

Without exception, everywhere I go and every group I talk to--from bankers to teachers unions and from veterans to college students--people nod their heads when I talk about locally grown, sustainable food. People want to know where their food comes from, and they want to see the farmers in their communities succeed. There is nothing more fundamental than food, and it is time we got serious about creating a food system that works for everyone--for families, for farmers, and for our local communities.

If we are going to change our food system, Congress must take this historic opportunity to reform agriculture policy by producing a farm bill that reinvests in our local economies.

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