Local food bank awaits Farm Bill approval

Food banks nationwide are scouring their communities, looking for food donations to offset a five-year decline in food supplies from the federal government.

And right now, their attention is focused on the U.S. Senate.

Members of Congress are scheduled to reconvene Monday afternoon to continue their debate on the $288 billion Farm Bill. The Senate began its talks Friday after the bill became deadlocked Nov. 6 because Republicans and Democrats couldn’t agree on amendments, according to the Reuters news agency.

The White House has threatened to veto the Senate version, as well as the House version that was passed in July, Reuters reported.

The first Farm Bill, which governs federal farm and food policies, was passed in 1933, according to the National Agriculture Law Center.

The bill is usually renewed every five years and not only affects farmers but also energy policies, commodity prices and the amount of government food and funding that is given to food banks.

The current versions of the bill contain $250 million in funding to support food banks, compared to $140 million in the 2002 version. The only difference between the two versions is that the House version tacks on an additional $56 million to help adjust for inflation.

Terry Drefke, executive director for the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, said she is crossing her fingers for the House version to end up as the final draft.

“I think it is a tough battle but I am a positive person. I have strong faith,” she said. “There is quite a few people opposing it and I don’t know what their agenda is exactly, but this country needs a strong farm bill for a ton of reasons, not just because of the needy clients that we serve.”

Through the Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture allocates funding to states that they then dole out to food banks. Over the past five years the funding has remained relatively stable, though on a gradual decline.

The local food bank received $1.3 million this year, a 31 percent decrease from the $1.9 million in 2003.

Even worse for food banks, though, is that the “bonus” food supplies the USDA has been able to give them annually have decreased even more dramatically. The USDA purchases surplus food from farmers to help keep the market steady and then offers it to states. The quantities and types of food vary from year to year depending on the market.

The local food bank has suffered an 87 percent cut in “bonus” food over the past five years. In 2002, it received $3.3 million. This year: $444,974.

The healthy market for farmers is the main contributor to the steep decline, said Maura Daly, vice president of government relations for America’s Second Harvest, the largest program for domestic hunger relief in the United States.

“It is a significant portion of the food that we move, and the reality of the situation (is) over the same amount of time, our demands are increasing,” she said.

All in all, the Valley food bank receives 62 percent less in food supplies today than four years ago.

The decline is a “big drop” for the local bank for basic food items critical to a well balanced diet, Drefke said, not to mention the increase in people the food bank has served during the same five years its food supplies have declined.

The food bank hasn’t been able to compensate for the decreasing government support even though the organization works daily on improving partnerships with businesses in the community, Drefke said.

“There is not a day that goes by that our agencies are not complaining or concerned,” she said. “(The feds) are cutting back on how much food we give and how much we distribute for the public.”

____

Jackie Leatherman covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments at The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4424.