Next week, the Senate is scheduled to begin debate on the "Food and Energy Security Act of 2007," the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill, which was drafted and approved last week by a bipartisan majority of Senate Agriculture Committee. The Committee’s version of the Farm Bill includes an estimated $3 billion of funding to address important specialty crop priorities, including over $1 billion targeted to anti-obesity and nutrition programs, including the expansion of the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program to 5,000 schools and 4.5 million elementary school children across the country. The bill also provides important funding for state specialty crop competitiveness projects, increased research, trade assistance, market promotion tools and significant improvements to combat invasive pests and diseases. "This is a major milestone for our industry. For the first time in history, the specialty crop industry has a seat at the Farm Bill table," said Robert Guenther, United Fresh senior vice president for public policy. "We appreciate the hard work and support from our Senate champions and the efforts made to include policies that enhance the competitiveness the specialty crop industry. We look forward to working with Senate members next week to approve the bill on the floor." Show your support! Contact your Senators today and ask them to support the "Food and Energy Security Act of 2007" that includes funding for specialty crops. For more information, contact Robert at rguenther@unitedfresh.org, 202-303-3409.
United Fresh Produce Association
1901 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: 202 303 3400
Fax: 202 303 3433 united@unitedfresh.org
