What's For Dinner?

Tonight's Guests: Kathty Ozer, Ben Burkett The 2014 Farm Bill is signed at last! To Kathy Ozer and Ben Burkett (National Family Farm Coalition) what it lays out for the next 5 years "could have been better but could have been worse." Important programs for family farmers and members of southern farmer cooperatives survived but with decreased allocations. (E.g. Value-Added Producer Grants; Outreach & Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers; Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development). SNAP cuts were lower than expected. But it's business almost as usual for commodities: direct payments to farmers were replaced with income support based on commodity prices and income. Crop insurance was expanded. Kathy and Ben deplore missed opportunities to restructure the system to pay farmers fairly for their work.