Farm Bill Basics

As a legislative mechanism, the first enacted Farm Bill was passed in 1933. At that time, our country was in crisis, amidst the Great Depression. Since then, the Farm Bill has been continually reauthorized about every five years. The current Farm Bill, adopted in 2014, is set to expire on September 30th, 2018.

Despite it’s name, the Farm Bill is about more than just farms or farming. Rather, it covers everything from supplemental nutrition programs to community development to research initiatives—all of which are important, of course.

At the most basic level, the Farm Bill is about three core values. First, the Farm Bill works to provide stability to farmers producing our nation’s food. The Farm Bill is also concerned with consumers; specifically, the Farm Bill wants to support families and individuals who lack access to healthy foods. Lastly, the Farm Bill outlines requirements for environmental conservation to protect the air, land, and water affected by farming practices. As you might imagine, these different tracts of the Farm Bill can have competing interests.

Something that’s in the best interest of the farmers, for example, might have a negative impact on the environment. At the same time, protecting the environment to the degree that’s necessary could be argued as too restrictive on farmers. Meanwhile, accounting for about 80% of Farm Bill spending, food access programs have become a centrally-debated topic of the two proposed Farm Bills this year. Which is unfortunate, considering that “[i]f you were to design a national food policy based on public health,” as nutrition thinker Marion Nestle explains, “it would be the antithesis of the Farm Bill.”