Press Release

Bread for the World Urges Reforms As Farm Bill Expiration Looms

Washington, DC, April 8, 2008 – Bread for the World today urged the upcoming congressional conference committee to use the negotiations to get the farm bill back on a path to genuine reform and overcome the shortcomings of the House and Senate versions of the bill. The farm bill is set to expire on April 18 unless it is extended or negotiators reach an agreement.

"The committee must deliver a farm bill that transcends politics-as-usual and is designed to help those who need it most," said Rev. David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World.  "Nutrition programs must be kept at the House-approved level of $11.5 billion over 10 years.  It is reprehensible to keep subsidizing prosperous farmers when food stamp recipients are getting squeezed by skyrocketing food prices and the ailing economy."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the monthly grocery costs for a typical low-income family shot up 7.2 percent in 2007 – a three-fold increase over the previous year's 2.4 percent increase.  Meanwhile, the average food stamp family's benefit grew by only 4.8 percent, leaving low-income households well short of the assistance they need to provide food for their families. The struggling U.S. economy has helped to spur a 5.6 percent increase in the number of households participating in the food stamp program over the past year, compared to the 0.63 percent increase in 2006.

Rev. Beckmann notes that there are two basic principles in reforming the farm bill:

• Reform current commodity programs to establish a more equitable system of support targeting U.S. farmers of modest means and to ensure a level playing field for poor farmers in developing countries, who comprise the majority of the world's hungry people
  
  
• Redirect the billions of dollars in savings generated by genuine reform of commodity programs to strengthen the Food Stamp Program, our nation's first line of defense against hunger, and other important nutrition programs and support farmers and rural residents of modest means, through enhanced conservation and rural development programs.

"Genuine reform of the commodity payments system, which Congress has thus far failed to achieve, is the key to a farm bill that reflects the nation's values and addresses its most urgent priorities," Rev. Beckmann said. "Without it, our policy will continue to direct money to millionaires while high-priority needs remain unmet."

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Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities where we live.