| Food for Thought, a new report,
shows America's most pressing environmental problems cannot be
solved unless farm spending is refocused to give farmers and
ranchers incentives to help the environment. The report is available
at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/programs/ecosystems/agrireform/FoodForThought.pdf.
"Less than ten percent of the money Congress spends now helps
farmers help the environment. The remainder actually harms the
environment," said Tim Searchinger, principal author of the report
and an Environmental Defense senior attorney. "Only farmers and
ranchers can solve many of our country's biggest environmental
problems. Its time for Congress to help them," said Searchinger.
Farmland occupies half of this country's land, and many current
farming practices help make agriculture the nation's leading source
of water pollution and problems for endangered species. If given the
right incentives, however, farmers can use proven techniques to
provide clean water and restore imperiled species. Farms can serve
as a bulwark against sprawl and can be part of the solution to
global warming.
Two thirds of all farmers receive no direct financial farm
support, according to the report, and most of the remainder is
targeted at the tiny percentage of largest farms. Many major farming
states receive almost no support at all. Meanwhile, three quarters
of all farmers and ranchers seeking support to help the environment
are turned away because of a lack of funds. Traditional programs can
cause crop surpluses and low prices that drive out family farms.
Programs that reward environmental stewardship would give more help
to family farmers than traditional farm programs.
The report also discusses how farm programs can preserve and
enhance private forests and address critical public health concerns,
including growing problems with antibiotic-resistant diseases, and
pesticides.
The upcoming Farm Bill will spend almost three times as much
money each year as the last Farm Bill (1996). The House Agriculture
Committee will start to mark-up its bill Thursday, which is expected
to mirror past Farm Bill spending patterns. However, the Working
Lands Stewardship Act (HR 2375), with eighty bi-partisan
co-sponsors, devotes roughly one third of its funds to conservation
incentives.
Food for Thought was also authored by American Farmland
Trust, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Defenders of
Wildlife, Environmental Working Group and Trout Unlimited.
### Environmental Defense, a leading national
nonprofit organization based in New York, represents more than
300,000 members. Since 1967 we have linked science, economics, and
law to create innovative, equitable, and cost-effective solutions to
the most urgent environmental problems. | 
