Harkin pushes for better nutrition in farm bill

2007-08-09

Source: Iowa City Press

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Wednesday that the 2007 farm bill should aim to improve nutrition for families, particularly lower-income people who don't have the money to eat healthy.

"People who use the most food stamps have the worst diets," Harkin said at a roundtable discussion with about 25 representatives from area service and policy groups.

The meeting at West Branch's Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum was part of Harkin's three-city tour of Eastern Iowa. The senator later visited Cedar Rapids and Davenport.

The farm bill is being debated in the Senate where Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, will push for more spending on nutrition. Drafted about every five years, the bill expires Sept. 30.

"We can't let this farm bill go through without a really strong nutrition title and have some of these gaps filled," Harkin said.

He said the farm bill, which underwrites the nation's food stamp and other nutrition programs, could be used to protect the poor, whose food stamp benefits continue to be slashed each year, Harkin said. A typical working parent with two kids will receive about $37 less each month, or about $450 a year in food stamps, he said.

The House-approved measure allots $190 billion for food stamps, school lunches and other food and nutrition-related programs.

Harkin's other priorities for the new farm bill include investing more money into renewable energy, improving such conservation efforts as stopping the erosion of cropland, supporting rural development and lending a hand to farmers when their income falls.

Dayna Ballantyne, director of the Food Bank at the Crisis Center, said she was happy to hear about Harkin's plan to help low-income people. She said many are facing serious health issues as a result of poor nutrition.

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