While the Farm Bill is typically thought of as a piece of agricultural legislation, the Nutrition Title is often just as important to farmers and ranchers.
There has been talk of splitting the farm and nutrition programs into two separate bills, but a Utah Farm Bureau member says the two programs need to be connected.
“It’s tough to get a farm bill passed that has all of the things that farmers need without the nutrition aspect of it because you have lawmakers on both sides of the aisle representing a lot of different demographics. And those urban legislators need to see something in the farm bill that’s benefiting their constituents, so it’s important to have both the nutrition as well as the farm programs work hand-in-hand,” said Tyson Roberts.
Roberts sells the vegetables he grows at local farmers markets and a lot of his customers use SNAP benefits to purchase them, which are funded by the Farm Bill.
Related:
Priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill from leading agriculture groups
Keeping Up with Inflation: How SNAP is changing
New USDA Funding: Improving rural health care and nutrition
