MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for defeating the 2018 Farm Bill (H.R. 2) by a 212-198 vote. LSP members have been clear from the beginning that we need a Farm Bill that supports family farmers, the land and communities. This proposal failed on all counts. It simply would have benefited corporate agriculture and accelerated the consolidation of the land as well as our food system. Click here to read LSP’s statement on this proposed bill.

This bill would have eliminated conservation programs like the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), cut funding for local foods programs and allowed the largest farm operations to receive unlimited subsidies. It would have also made unnecessary changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Such changes to SNAP would have forced many low-income people to lose assistance.

“By not passing this bill, our lawmakers have the opportunity to reconsider this piece of legislation and work for a Farm Bill that meets the needs of family farmers, the land and our communities,” said LSP member and farmer Juliet Tomkins of River Falls, Wis. “We need ‘Our Farm Bill,’ one that represents family farmers, the land and communities.

To read LSP’s Farm Bill priorities, click here.

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