Kim Schrier

First, my colleague, Chellie Pingree, and I are co-leading an Agriculture Task Force as part of the House's Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.

Applying can feel like a full-time job in itself.

I think we need to find ways to decrease the burden on our farmers and growers and also on conservation districts.

What we need are commonsense adjustments to ensure that these programs are serving our producers and their land well.

But farmers in my district still need help in order to access these loans and opportunities for first-time farmers who often don't have generational knowledge.

The 2018 Farm Bill made really nice strides to improve financial assistance for young, beginning, disadvantaged producers by increasing loan limits and set-asides.

Today, I would like to discuss some of the barriers that young, beginning, and underserved producers in my district face accessing credit.

Understandable. That 100 mile haul is something I hear about frequently in the district, and it is why I am looking to bring a small-diameter mill to the 8th District.

I first just want to reextend my invitation to you to visit my district this summer--it is beautiful in Washington State in the summer--to speak with stakeholders about priority forest restoration and wildfire mitigation projects.

We need to get through the Senate. It would allow for more worker visas, which would help the dairy producers in my district, and across this country.

Thank you for the change in the DMC feed cost formula to better reflect the cost of high-quality alfalfa hay.

We can help address the need for emergency food bank support by providing an additional $900 million for food purchases through TEFAP.

So that is why I am working on legislation that would improve our food and agricultural supply chain by modifying the procurement side of TEFAP to provide emergency feeding organizations with better access to healthy, locally grown food.

Cascadia Produce is championing a new model of coordinated collaboration to act as an incubator.

Today, I would like to focus on The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP.

I really appreciate those relationships. That is why the legislation I am working on now is really going to get funding hopefully to the states to get down to the most local communities to do exactly what you have done and be able to…

They saw a 700 percent increase in customers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food is preventative medicine if you choose the right foods.

I am a cosponsor of Representative Gomez's EATS Act (H.R. 1919, Enhance Access To SNAP Act of 2021).

We should frankly just allow full-time students access to the SNAP programs.

The primary program to help individuals facing food insecurity in this country is SNAP. It is not food banks.

We have to figure out how to refresh these rules that are just wildly out of sync with what the reality is.

SNAP is a vital resource for these families and millions of others across this country.

SNAP also supports local economies because those purchases are made at local stores.

I think that is a great idea, and it opens us up to more of the small family farms that we are looking to support and bring into these programs.