Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) today announced that a key Senate panel has included provisions of their Food Outreach and Opportunities Development (FOOD) for a Healthy America Act in the 2007 Farm Bill. Brown, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, was instrumental in securing the programs in the legislation. The Brown-Clinton measures, first introduced in May, will help deliver fresh food from farms to underserved communities by increasing the supply and availability of locally produced foods. Following today’s approval by the Senate Agriculture Committee, the farm bill will go to the full Senate for consideration in November.

"This bill brings together family farmers who produce healthy food and working families who need healthy food. It will create new markets for our farmers to sell their goods and give families in communities across Ohio access to the fresh produce they need to stay healthy," Senator Brown said.

"I am pleased that the farm bill includes needed measures to improve the overall health and food security in our country by providing families greater access to healthy locally-grown foods and family farmers access to a greater variety of markets. I have seen first-hand how this kind of targeted and creative effort can help farmers and local communities through the Farm to Fork program I helped launch in New York. Taking this approach nationwide will help farmers in New York and across the country access new markets for their products and aid in the fight against diet-related heath conditions like obesity and juvenile diabetes. I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to ensure these provisions remain a priority in the final 2007 Farm Bill," said Senator Clinton.
The price of fresh fruits and vegetables increased nearly 40 percent between 1985 and 2000. Increasing the availability of healthy and fresh foods in schools and underserved communities is an important aspect of improving the overall health and food security in the United States.
The Healthy Food, Healthy Communities report from 2005 found the increase in diabetes, heart disease, and other diet-related diseases is partly the result of a lack of fresh food consumption, including fruits and vegetables. According to the Trust for America's Health, childhood obesity levels have nearly tripled since 1980 to 2004, from 5 to 17 percent.

The Brown-Clinton provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill create profitable markets for small and midsized family farmers and ranchers. Also, the provisions promote locally-led food access initiatives that increase the availability and affordability of healthy and fresh foods, increase fruits and vegetables in school meals, improve access to healthy foods for low-income individuals, remove barriers that keep local farmers from selling products to schools, and support farmers' markets and road-side stands, particularly in underserved areas.

According to the Northeast-Midwest Institute, when food is produced, packaged, and distributed closer to where it is sold and consumed, farmers earn a higher share of the food dollar. Local food production and distribution works hand-in-hand with community-led efforts to reduce hunger and provide affordable foods needed for good nutrition, especially in communities underserved by retail food stores.

The Brown-Clinton FOOD for a Healthy America Act provisions in the farm bill include:

• Providing affordable access to healthy foods
• Expanding usage of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards at farmers’ markets
• Creating a new Healthy Food Access Center with sub-granting authority and $7 million mandatory funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Expanding the Farmers’ Market Program for seniors by $50 million over 5 years
• Allowing the National School Lunch Program to purchase locally produced food for school meals
• Expanding the Farmers’ Market Promotion Program from $5 million over 5 years to $30 million over 5 years
• Creating pilot projects to evaluate Health and Nutrition Promotion in the Food Stamp Program
• Expanding the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to more schools, and to every state in the country
• Expanding Community Food Projects focused on local agriculture, urban gardens, and underserved communities from $25 million over 5 years to $50 million over $5 years

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