CATCH UP WITH EARL: The House Ways and Means committee member Earl Blumenauer has worked on four farm bills, but not as a member of the ag committee. He has also repeatedly introduced an idealistic alternative farm bill, the Food and Farm Act, based on conversations he’s had with constituents about what the food system could look like. Marcia caught up with him at the end of April. The interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. MA: What’s your advice to staffers and members for whom this is their first farm bill? Blumenauer: The most important lesson for any member is to try and unpack what’s in the package that we know of as the farm. There’s a brilliant essay from Marion Nestle, a friend of mine who is a professor [emerita] of nutrition science at NYU, “The farm bill drove me insane.” MA: You’ve talked about building a farm bill that works for smaller farmers, that works for more farmers and we've certainly seen this administration talk about those issues. How do you view this administration’s commitment to that kind of a farm bill? Blumenauer: I like Tom Vilsack. He’s knowledgeable, personable, but I was underwhelmed by his first iteration. But Vilsack 2.0 and the Biden administration I find very encouraging. We’ve had several meetings with Tom on Capitol Hill with some members. He’s knowledgeable, he’s sympathetic to the needs, he understands the challenges. He's not naive and he's not going to be a bomb thrower. But I think he's very open to our being able to make the case for what most farmers and ranchers need. The dynamic that he's confronting … it's a fundamentally different situation. For example, folks that deal with livestock, they’re getting pennies on the dollar because they have no choice, usually, on who they sell it to. But at the same time, four companies have 80 percent of the market and they’re extraordinarily profitable. At the supermarket, consumers are paying more. There is a crisis in farm country. Suicides are up. They're struggling financially. I wouldn't say it's impossible, but it's extraordinarily difficult for young people who want to get into agriculture, to be able to do so. And then there's just the unfairness of the way the system works now. MA: Do you see the farm bill as a vehicle changing labor protections? Blumenauer: It's probably not the easiest vehicle there. There are trade options. One of the things we're working on is making sure that producers are responsible for the chain of supply, and goods that are produced with forced labor, for instance, would be denied access to the American market. I think that's a more direct way. There are issues about treating, not just farmworkers but we had a huge problem during the pandemic, forcing workers that are in meat processing, they were forced to work and the conditions under which they worked deteriorated, speeding up production lines, more injuries. MA: Since 2018, the hemp industry is more developed and established. What are some changes that would move the industry in a positive direction in the farm bill? Blumenauer: More money for research and being able to open up these markets. I am hopeful that we can have the federal government have a comprehensive look at hemp as a product, dealing with standards, marketing, opening this up in a way that eliminates the stigma. It's not cannabis. And I think we're hopeful that the federal government will embrace it in a more comprehensive way. I'm going to have a conversation with a representative from the Department of Justice in a couple of hours, we'll talk about how they're going to approach this. There needs to be a reset, not just on hemp but on cannabis generally. The federal government is stumbling in that direction, but it's taking too long. MA: You obviously care deeply about these issues. You've introduced the Food and Farm Act several times. But you're not on the Agriculture Committee. What’s your thinking behind that? Blumenauer: My main assignment is Ways and Means Committee, which is treated as an exclusive committee. Typically people don't get other assignments. … I could have pressed perhaps for a waiver, but there are a number of our members who have keen cultural interest and a limited number of slots. I have found my voice nationally. I've had opportunities to be speaking in forums, talking to journalists, getting some attention with concepts that I've introduced. … I am on a Budget Committee this time. We will be raising these issues, for example, like unjustified subsidies. In fact, I've already done that in a hearing on the budget committee. MA: On the subsidies, do you think you'll have some unlikely allies on that issue in this Congress? Blumenauer: There are some true fiscal conservatives. If they really care about reducing the debt and providing support for people who need it. Historically, we have had Republicans join me. I did a lot of work with Paul Ryan. We dealt with reining in some of these unjustified and egregious subsidies. This is a strange climate but I think there are some principled conservatives, if we can get their attention to focus on you know, this $18 billion to sustain 20,000 farmers for 37 consecutive years. I imagine that might get somebody's attention. The outrageous subsidies for crop insurance. And the people who can take advantage of it. This affects lots of people in red districts.
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