A group of organizations that consider themselves part of the food movement have come together to form Food Policy Action. This new group released a scorecard on Senators and Representatives based on 32 floor votes taken in the last two years – and declared 11 Senators and 39 House members food champions. They also named some food policy failures. In the near-term – Food Policy Action wants to inform voters about the standing of each Member of Congress ahead of the election. Longer-term – the group hopes to influence member votes and behavior. According to the Food Policy Action website – the group’s mission is to highlight the importance of food policy and to promote policies that support healthy diets, reduce hunger at home and abroad, improve food access and affordability, uphold the rights and dignity of food and farm workers, increase transparency, improve public health, reduce the risk of food-borne illness, support local and regional food systems, treat farm animals humanely and reduce the environmental impact of farming and food production.
On their National Food Policy Scorecard – members who voted to limit farm subsidies, repeal the ethanol tax credit, stop the Environmental Protection Agency from legalizing E15 ethanol, require labeling of genetically modified foods, require conservation compliance, offer crop insurance for organic crops, encourage pulse crops in school meals and to spend more on rural development programs that encourage local food systems got a thumbs up. Members got a thumbs down for voting to reduce funding for domestic and international food assistance programs, weaken EPA pesticide regulation and cut conservation spending to fund disaster assistance.
The Food Policy Action Board includes Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook and Humane Society of the United States President and CEO Wayne Pacelle. Bread for the World, the National Black Farmers Association and Food Democracy Now! are among the other groups represented.
Visit FoodPolicyAction dot org (www.foodpolicyaction.org) for more on this newly-formed group.