The Farm Bill is the primary piece of legislation that determines our nation’s food and agriculture policy. The 15 Farm Bill titles address important issues including supplemental nutrition assistance programs (SNAP, formally called food stamps), farm, trade, conservation, rural development, research, and food safety programs.
To help solve our nation’s many health, social, economic and environmental challenges, the nation needs a comprehensive, health-focused food system that addresses the goals of hunger and disease reduction, local and family farm viability, food affordability and accessibility, environmental protection, land use planning, regional resilience, and social justice.
Good policy decisions are made through clear, transparent, and deliberative decision-making processes that involve the individuals and communities they affect. It is important that rural, urban, and suburban communities, all have a voice in determining the policies that directly affect their economic and social well-being.
Our purpose in establishing these principles is to provide a framework of values that will help guide decisions by our elected officials. These principles are meant to provide guidance for the development of policies, regulations, programs, funding opportunities, technical support and research priorities for a healthy and sustainable food system supported by the 2012 Farm Bill.
Founding Co-Signers
- Richard Conlin, President, Seattle City Council
- Denis Hayes, President, Bullitt Foundation, National Coordinator of the first Earth Day
- James Kelly, CEO, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle
- Dr. David Fleming, Director, Public Health Seattle-King County
- Mary Embleton, Executive Director, Cascade Harvest Coalition
- Trudy Bialic, Public Affairs Director, PCC Natural Markets
- Fred Fleming and Karl Kupers, Co-founders of Shepherd’s Grain
- Reverend Dr. Robert L. Jeffrey, Executive Director, Clean Greens
- Siri Erickson-Brown, Co-owner, Local Roots Farm
- Dr. David R. Montgomery, MacArthur Fellow and author, DIRT: The Erosion of Civilizations
- Andrew Stout, CEO-Founder, Full Circle Farm
