Chellie Pingree: “This amendment would combat the misguided report language written to attack local and regional food systems. By passing…”

“This amendment would combat the misguided report language written to attack local and regional food systems. By passing this amendment, we will send an important message to farmers, consumers, and community leaders around the country: Local and regional food systems are critically important. They provide economic opportunities for rural communities and healthy food for consumers. Local food systems are the backbone of economies across the country. In order to ensure local food systems work to their maximum potential, Congress must support research, thriving programs, and devote more, not less, funding to enhance this work. You know, no matter what group I'm talking to, whether it's members of the credit unions or realtors or teachers, when I start talking about improving the quality of food we serve our kids, improving local food systems, and knowing where your food comes from, I look around the room and everybody is nodding. Across the board, these issues are important to people, and this is where there is real energy for growth in the economy. The language included in the report was designed to criticize and hamstring efforts that are underway at the USDA to create jobs, to increase farm income, and to bolster the economy through the development of local and regional food systems.…”