The farm bill seems to be in limbo. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said everyone wants to get the legislation wrapped up, but that won’t happen until everyone involved adopts a practical point of view. “I think what we saw from the House Agriculture Committee is more of a political point of view.” The House Republican bill limits future increases to the so-called Thrifty Food Plan which calculates the amount of money SNAP recipients receive. Vilsack said that plan takes resources away from families in need and transfers a portion of the funding to increase farm reference prices that benefit only 22 out of the 100 commodities grown in the U.S. “The top ten percent of those receiving the benefits receive 60 percent of the benefit; it creates a serious issue in terms of the fairness and equity of what we’re talking about.”
