Farm Bill 2014

Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013

To provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes.

The above mentioned act, short named the Farm Bill was proposed in 2013 and passed in 2014.

Every 5 years, a new Farm Bill is introduced to discuss spending in different areas relating to farming, and distribution of funding for assistance programs. In 2014, a Farm Bill was signed by executive order from President Obama.

What I want to focus on in regards to this bill, is changes made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also known as "food stamps". With this law, 8 billion dollars per year was cut from the food stamps program. At first proposal of this law, many wondered whether President Obama was going to pass this bill because in the public eye, he is very against cutting any assistance funding. However, this bill was signed by executive order from President Obama in "record time". (http://www.usda.gov)

I am not a beneficiary of food stamps although I have many friends who are. As with any assistance program, there are many who abuse the benefit. But for truly deserving families, the cut in funding averages out to 34 lost meals per month. I do not feel that this adjustment was a good one. I feel like any changes made to the food stamps program should be to streamline the application process, aid in the selection process to ensure worthy candidates, and help people who are needing this assistance with resources such as job placement services.

Another excellent change to the food stamps program would be nutritional programs that go hand in hand with accepting food stamps benefits. Currently, if you are a beneficiary of food stamps, you are given a debit card that is loaded on a certain day of the month with your monthly benefit amount. You can then take this to the store and purchase whatever you want. I am not suggesting taking away freedom of choice, but use this opportunity to inform beneficiaries of healthy options for their families.

Wikipedia contributors. "Agricultural Act of 2014." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 23 Jul. 2015.

USDA.gov. "A Look at the Farm Bill, One Year In." USDA, United States Department of Agriculture. USDA, United States Department of Agriculture, 03/02/2015.