Bernie Sanders: “The point here is that as commodity prices decline, and that is true for dairy, it is true for many other commodities…”

“The point here is that as commodity prices decline, and that is true for dairy, it is true for many other commodities, family farmers are looking for alternative sources of revenue. One of the sources of alternative revenue that they are looking at is agritourism. What we are looking at here is a $2 million program that would help family farmers all across this country. The key issue here, which is an interesting concept, is that, as the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) just said, people from cities all over the country go to rural areas in order to enjoy the peace and beauty that exists in rural areas. One of the reasons that the rural landscape is beautiful is because our family farmers keep that land open. It seems to me what we have to try to do is make sure that family farmers get a fair shake, get a fair return in terms of the agritourism money that is spent in their States; that it is not just the ski areas, that it is not just the fancy hotels, but that some of that money goes out into the rural countryside and helps the family farmers who need it the most.”