Marcy Kaptur: “Mr. Chairman, the farm bill established for the first time the Farmers Market Promotion Program to expand and promote…”

“Mr. Chairman, the farm bill established for the first time the Farmers Market Promotion Program to expand and promote our farmers markets around the country, to help farmers increase their sales at roadside stands and community-supported farmers markets across this country. My proposal would take $6 million from the Chief Information Officer's account and put it in this program. Though authorized by the farm bill, there were no funds appropriated to this account that were in the bill that cleared the subcommittee. What this program does, it would give additional traction to farmers who are farming especially around our large urban areas to earn money from the market place rather than from subsidy programs. It is a direct-marketing program. None of the dollars in this measure go to buildings and so forth. And it is really aimed at those farmers that are trying to hang on and earn money from the market place. The average age of farmers in our country is now about 58 years old. This is a very small amount of money coming out of a bill that is over $80 billion, but really it has so much effect.”