House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson recently released the full text of the 2024 farm bill. Lawmakers including Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa have previously said it’s unclear whether Democratic and Republican leaders can pass a bipartisan bill this year. But food policy expert Eric Kessler argues that no deal could be better than a farm bill that compromises on key programs.
“No farm bill is better than a bad farm bill,” said Kessler, founder and former co-president of Arabella Advisors. He called the House version of the bill “far from bipartisan” and told Food Tank that it’s “a direct attack on hunger prevention and nutrition programs.”[and] Climate change program. ”
The bill, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates could cost as much as $1.5 trillion over 10 years, covers everything from nutrition assistance programs and conservation to everyday goods and rural development.
The House’s latest version proposes roughly $30 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and also changes requirements for conservation funds in the Controlling Inflation Act, which was enacted to support climate-smart agricultural practices.
“I think [Republicans] They’re looking cynically at their constituency and what they want from their constituency and saying: Hey, we can convince them that climate change isn’t real, we can convince them that this money isn’t doing them any good, and then invest it in something that supports that, big win,” Kessler told Food Tank. But, he says, “the polls don’t support that. Americans understand climate change.”
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently expressed “deep concerns” about the House farm bill, saying it was “designed not to actually create a path to passage, but unfortunately to create a path to gridlock and will cause further delays.”
But Kessler said that even if lawmakers can’t come to an agreement, “we have money to continue our hunger programs, our nutrition programs, our climate programs,” which is why he told Food Tank, “Rather than agree to a bill that would actually cut those programs, let’s just keep them going.”
Listen to the full conversation with Eric Kessler on “Food Talk with Dani Nirenberg,” where he delves into the competing versions of the House and Senate farm bills, why the chef has become a strong advocate for our food systems, and why his perspective on investing in the food and agriculture sector is evolving.
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Photo by Zoe Schaeffer, Unsplash
