{"id":1745,"date":"2020-04-01T08:29:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T13:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/familyfarmers.org\/?p=1745"},"modified":"2021-09-23T17:33:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T22:33:55","slug":"family-food-producers-and-anti-hunger-advocates-urge-support-for-local-supply-chains-in-next-stimulus-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familyfarmers.org\/?p=1745","title":{"rendered":"FAMILY FOOD PRODUCERS AND ANTI-HUNGER ADVOCATES URGE SUPPORT FOR LOCAL SUPPLY CHAINS IN NEXT STIMULUS BILL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Call for funds to directly invest in communities to build out critical infrastructure between local and regional food producers and families in need of healthy food<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communication Contact: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Fahy (Farm Aid), jennifer@farmaid.org, (617) 320-9587, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie DePoala (WhyHunger), debbie@whyhunger.org<\/a>, (212) 629-8850 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heidi Anne Rogers (NAMA), heidi@namanet.org<\/a>,\n(615) 900-6504 \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siena Chrisman (NFFC), siena@nffc.net, phone: (917) 821-9631<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan Treakle (NFFC) jordan@nffc.net<\/a>, (202) 543-5675<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alison Cohen (WhyHunger) alison@whyhunger.org<\/a>,\n(718) 510-4989 \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alicia Harvie (Farm Aid), alicia@farmaid.org<\/a>,\n(484) 716-9502 \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navina Khanna (HEAL), navina@healfoodalliance.org<\/a>, (510) 393-4905 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNorthwest\nAtlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA)<\/strong>,\nNational\nFamily Farm Coalition (NFFC)<\/strong>,\nFarm\nAid<\/strong>,\nWhyHunger<\/strong>,\nHEAL\nFood Alliance<\/strong>,\nand the Institute\nfor Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)<\/strong>\ncommended\nCongress for quick passage of an initial COVID-19 pandemic relief\nbill and called on legislators to take an additional step to not only\naddress the current crisis but invest in a future that minimizes food\ninsecurity and ensures the continuity of the essential services that\nfarmers, fishermen, ranchers, and related food businesses provide.\nThe organizations–made up of family farmers, ranchers, fishermen,\nand food workers across rural, urban, and indigenous communities\nadvocating for sustainable agriculture and fisheries, and food\nsecurity–pointed to many recent innovations in regional farm,\nranching, and fishing infrastructure that enable producers to provide\nhealthy food to their local communities, especially those\nexperiencing food insecurity, in the midst of this crisis and into\nthe future by using their existing infrastructure to deliver local\nand minimally processed food to a growing number of individuals\nfacing food insecurity. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noreen\nSpringstead, Executive Director of WhyHunger: \u201cAs the COVID-19\ncrisis reshapes life in America, it is essential that we protect\neveryone\u2019s most basic human right to nutritious food. This crisis\nhas exposed major weaknesses in the current consolidated supply\nchain, and the need to support community-scale production and\ndistribution. In addition, it demonstrates the stark inequities that\nleave tens of millions in persistent hunger and poverty, and\nsmall-scale producers on the sidelines. Even before the pandemic, 37\nmillion people were struggling to get food on the table for their\nfamilies, while 4 out of 5 U.S. workers were living paycheck to\npaycheck. Millions of low-income people face chronic illness and\nhealth disparities making them even more susceptible to COVID-19.\nLack of access has never been about a yield gap, it is a problem of\ndistribution: Now is the time to more directly connect food producers\nwho are losing income as local markets close to food access\norganizations who are in need of fresh nutritious food for current\npatrons and the growing numbers of those who may be facing food\ninsecurity in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nthe current administration has provided more than $23 billion to food\nproducers for the loss of export markets since 2018, the majority of\nsmall and medium-scale farmers, fishers, and ranchers have seen\nlittle of this relief. Many family farmers, ranchers, and fishermen\nhave already been struggling through six years of farm prices below\naverage costs of production. For producers reliant on local markets,\nthe closure this week of thousands of school districts, restaurants,\nand farmers markets across the country has been another blow. NAMA,\nNFFC, Farm Aid, WhyHunger, HEAL Food Alliance, and IATP are proposing\nthe following set of policies to support these and similar\ninitiatives to ensure food access in communities around the country\nand economic security for workers across the food chain, now and in\nthe coming uncertain economic times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMMEDIATE\nMEASURES TO SUPPORT ALL PRODUCERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n