It has been six years since a multi-year farm bill was passed by Congress, and a new farm bill is sorely overdue.
The farm bill is meant to set national agriculture and food policy for five-year periods in order to support the nation’s farmers, ranchers, and food-security programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which helps supply food banks around the country. The last farm bill was passed in 2018. It expired in 2023 and, after stalled negotiations in Congress last year, got a one-year extension that ends September 30, 2024.
The world today is nothing like the world of 2018. Since the 2018 farm bill was signed into law, there have been huge gaps in the farm safety net and food security net due to such events as COVID-19 and related supply chain challenges, rising foreign subsidies, inflation, and more.
Sarah Mason with Feeding Colorado, which advocates for all five Feeding America food banks in Colorado, including Food Bank of the Rockies, explained that in recent years, food banks have seen more people needing food assistance, especially in the last two years as pandemic-era SNAP benefits ended and grocery prices have risen sharply.
Food Bank of the Rockies President and CEO Erin Pulling put it this way: “Historically, the Food Bank purchased about 10% of its food supply. In the last few years, that portion has tripled. Where we used to spend a few million dollars a year on food, this year we will spend more than $14 million. Last year was even more than that.” Read more
