Sign the petition below to tell Congress to support organic farming!
© Alison Grippo | Dreamstime Stock Photos
A few months ago, I read an article about a family that took the SNAP food challenge, living on a food budget of $4/day per person. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), provides food stamps for families in need, with over 45 million families enrolled for this assistance in December, 2012.
One of the things that struck me in reading this article, along with other stories of families and politicians who have taken this challenge, is how fresh fruits and fresh vegetables often didn’t make the food stamp cut. They were swapped out for more “affordable” foods that could stretch the dollar more. The story I mentioned above talked about one of the daughters trading food with her classmates to try to get some fresh fruit.
The truth is that fresh fruit and fresh vegetables sometimes are just more expensive than other types of foods, even though they’re much, much healthier. If you have a family that’s on a budget and is trying to have a healthier diet, the odds are stacked against them.
One of the ways we can help make fresh fruit and fresh vegetables more accessible to families in need is by having more fruit and vegetables available. It’s basic supply and demand. If more farmers grow apples, the apple supply goes up and the price of apples goes down. How do we get more farmers to grow more fruit and vegetables? By supporting local farms and farming families and signing the petition below, telling Congress to promote organic farming, and not “big ag.”
Sign Our Petition & Tell Congress You Support Organic Farming!
By signing this petition, you are telling Congress that you want your tax dollars to go to programs that help families gain greater access to healthy, affordable food in the new farm bill.
This petition will be sent to Frank D. Lucas, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and Debbie Stabenew, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
If you support organic farming, and think that our tax dollars should support organic farmers and make healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible for everyone, please sign the petition above to show your support! We have a goal of getting 15,000 signatures and we’re half way there!
Feel free to tweet/share this message to help get more support for organic farming and for making healthier options for families more affordable.
I support organic farming & making fresh fruits and vegetables affordable for all. Sign this petition if you do too: wicproject.com/everything-els…
— Miriam T. (@WiCProject) April 9, 2013
To learn more about the Farm Bill, check out www.ewg.org.
I really wish they would support more local farmers. Great post!
I agree. We have lots of farm land around here and it’d be nice to support the local communities.
I buy from local farmers whenever possible because I hate all the crap that our food goes through commercially. I just don’t feel like it’s really all that safe anymore. Far too much modified chemicals and stuff goes into the growing of the food.
I agree. I’m trying to eat and drink more organic options and would love to see that section of the grocery store grow.
I totally agree with this, signed and retweeted!
Thanks Dede! I know you’ll share a unique perspective and I look forward to reading your post. 🙂
Great initiative. I signed and tweeted.
Thanks so much for your support, Jenn!
Great cause! I shared!
Aren’t there farmers that the government pays not to farm every year? Why are we paying people not to farm? I get the whole supply and demand thing, but if they can afford to pay them not to farm, they can afford to pay them to farm. That way as the supply amounts went up, and prices went down the farmers would still be okay with their income from the crops. Perhaps I am just too simple in my thinking.
@Kellie, that makes sense to me. I didn’t know we pay people to not farm! When we need more fresh fruits & veggies available and accessible, paying to produce less doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.
Thanks for doing something great like this on your blog!
Totally agree! I think it would help too some sort of education to show families just how easy growing your own produce can be. For about $10 in seeds we can grow enough produce for a family of 4 to last us several months, even canning some.
Absolutely agree! I am not great at growing things and rely on our farmers to do it for me. I commend the hard work and dedication that organic farming needs.
I know that sometimes staying organic has it’s own set of challenges, so I’m happy to support anything that will help make organic farming more available.
Luckily I have access to a wide range of truly organic and sustainably farmed food. Everyone should have the choice! I have sgned your petition…
I would love to add this widget to my blog to help get more signatures. How do you do that?