Do we have perverse incentives in government as opposed to the clarity that the Senator had, that we could do some changes to our policy that align incentives?

We are not letting the free market rule? We are investing heavily as a government, dramatically, on the things that are making us sick.

We are honored that you are here.

Indigenous voices are not always at the table, and I really appreciate this opportunity to address each of you.

I am just grateful to my Ranking Member one more time for the common ground that we have found and both of our commitments to do something about the problem.

Senators Booker and Braun, the two of you, together with Representatives McGovern and Walorski in the House, have called for the second White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, Hunger, and Health.

I agree with both of you that the farmers are my hope in America.

We have a system set up for 20th century goals, and we need to really sit down together as a nation.

The farmers, if you talk to them, the contract farmers are living in deep debt and in real crisis.

What I think government is doing right now is picking winners and losers.

We have to figure out how to shift without hurting those farmers, shift their profits and their productivity toward healthier crops.

I want to start off by stating the fact that all of our witnesses agree on this reality, this urgency, that today in America we are facing a massive broad-based nutrition crisis.

It would go up double-digit percentages every single year.

We are on a path to disaster.

Programs like--we have done this in my city, in Newark, giving people access to make their SNAP dollars go further.

I was stunned in the hearing we had in the Ag Committee on the cattle industry that I was being praised by a guy on conservative radio in Alabama as being this northeast Democrat that was talking to the concerns that the farmers have.

The hope or the vision for Senator Braun and I--and I would love to talk to you more about it--is the idea if we get all stakeholders around the table in a bipartisan fashion, private sector, farmers, policymakers to begin to talk on those…

I am just stunned with the messaging that folks receive.