Report From The Washington Public Policy Conference

More than 500 people from 36 states as well as citizens of Canada, Mexico, and Greece attended United Fresh’s Washington Public Policy Conference this week. Attendees had the opportunity to gear up for the annual March on Capitol Hill, which took place on Tuesday, where the discussions focused on nutrition, labor, economic and regulatory challenges, and the now-expired Farm Bill.

In fact, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement in a news release on the expiration of authority for 2008 Farm Bill programs: “As of today, USDA's authority or funding to deliver many of these programs has expired, leaving USDA with far fewer tools to help strengthen American agriculture and grow a rural economy that supports one in 12 American jobs. Authority and funding for additional programs is set to expire in the coming months. Without action by the House of Representatives on a multi-year Food, Farm and Jobs bill, rural communities are today being asked to shoulder additional burdens and additional uncertainty in a tough time.”

With a sense of urgency directed toward of the above-mentioned issues, attendees were prepared to go out to present their collective cases to those holding public office.

According to Charles Wingard of Walter P. Rawl and Sons, Inc. in Pelion, SC, a vegetable grower and a conference attendee, the necessary messages were delivered to offices of Congress members.

In one meeting, Rawl said, things got a little tense when the subject of immigration came up. “We made a clear point that there is a distinct difference between amnesty and adjustment of status. It came up because we were talking about a guest worker program, but we still have 11 million undocumented workers in this country. We have to do something about it,” he explained.

The most critical of issues facing growers, said Wingard, is immigration. “We will get a Farm Bill, but we have been years without a solution to immigration.”

Wingard said he is 100% hopeful that something will be done about immigration in the next year. “I’m substantially less confident that something will happen,” he added.

“I think growers need to understand that whether they like it or not, government is a key factor in their business and they need to figure out a way to tell elected officials their story – themselves,” he said.

The voice of ag is beginning to be heard, said Wingard, but that voice needs to come from growers. “When we don’t tell our stories, other people will tell them, but they often don’t tell them the way we would. We need to tell our story the way we want it told.”

According to Tom Deardorff of Deardorff Family Farms in Oxnard, CA, growers are on the right side of the immigration issue. “We need to connect the dots and tell our stories. Every time we engage in this argument, we need to win it,” he said.

Similarly, when speaking to the crowd USDA’s Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan told attendees that they couldn’t have come to Washington, DC, at a more critical time. “We really need your voices to be heard,” she said. “As local and regional food expands, growers have a chance to lead.”

She mentioned that October is Farm to School Month, and that she recently had an opportunity to visit a school in Portland, ME, and have lunch with first graders. She saw the Let’s Move Salad Bar and had a chance to walk around the school’s vegetable garden.

“The kids were so enthusiastic; eating local foods,” she said. “It was picture perfect.”

What is less than perfect, however, are the two aspects of uncertainty, which include supporting the federal government, which is scheduled to be funded through March 27, 2013, and the situation with the Farm Bill, she said.

Regarding funds to run the government, Merrigan said Congress needs to act soon or massive budget cuts will occur across the board.

With regard to the Farm Bill she said it is “an unnecessary speed bump for agriculture. Ag is such a great success story during a time of economic upheaval,” she concluded. “There is still much progress that we can make.”

Labor, the Farm Bill, and much more were highlighted during the event.