New Farm Bill: Fresher foods
Seattle Post-Intelligencer,October 22, 2007

It's still possible to reform U.S. farm policy to feed more people, improve nutrition and better protect growers against disaster. That's the hopeful message of a bipartisan bill being introduced Tuesday.

Republican Sen. Richard Lugar and New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg will introduce what they call the FRESH Act -- the Farm Ranch Energy Stewardship and Health Act of 2007. They focus on health, conservation and nutrition in a fiscally responsible manner, something that earlier eluded the House of Representatives.

Supporters say the bill would phase out unending direct payments to big commodity producers. It would provide crop-failure insurance options to all farmers in a more economical fashion than now. And it would go some way toward boosting food stamps, expanding healthy school meal options and encouraging more fruits and vegetables, while saving $3 billion for federal deficit reduction.

The Senate must make big decisions on farm policy quickly. But the elements of the FRESH Act should appeal to the Bush administration, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, senators across the country, including Washington's, and most of all to a public eager for healthier food.