The Farm & Ranch Mobility & Sustainability Program
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Increasing plant-based options for consumers and providing farmers with more options and flexibility is critical. Policies focused on plant-based agriculture practices and increasing the supply of high-fiber, healthy foods would:
Because of competition with large farms, small farmers need options to stay afloat that get them away from government reliance.
The best formats to use and restore their land sometimes require transitioning their farms to less competitive, non-monopolistic plant-based food crops.
This allows farmers to restore the soil on their land, reuse storage sheds, create a sustainable model, use less energy, use less water, adapt to lucrative plant-based consumers, create a local farm hub to provide to schools & other community institutions, and increase health food accessibility.
We are asking members of Congress to support policies that ensure our farmers have access to new methods that both protect them and build up our communities.
Thousands of American lives could be saved every year if everyone ate the recommended amounts of dietary fiber.1
The US food system supplies half the dietary fiber Americans need2 and Americans are only eating half the fiber they need.3
As a result, Americans are dying of chronic diet-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer4.
Fast-growing plant-based food companies are “scrambling to secure a supply chain,” according to Miyoko Schinner, CEO of Miyoko’s Creamery.“
Plant-based food producers like us import raw materials from Vietnam and China because we can’t find ample sources here in the US.
There’s far more demand by plant-based companies for fiber-rich crops than supply.” – Miyoko Schinner
This is America’s all-hands-on-deck moment. If America is going to cut GHG emissions in half by 2030, every industrial sector needs to pitch in.
Prioritizing fiber-rich foods can conserve hundreds of millions of tons of CO2-eq5 every year, making major head-way toward the nation’s goal to cut emissions in half by 2030
Take, for example, Dan and Paul – independent dairy farmers joining AFA in calling for Congress to introduce the FARMS Act and establish a diversification program.
I would much rather get funding to transition to something better than get funding to keep producing milk for a market that already has a surplus.
I support the creation of the FARMS Act to assist farmers in transition to different lines of production, especially climate-healing crop production.
Dan
AFA Partner
Whether it be climate or economic factors, keeping small or smaller farms in business, is going to require specific actions.
We can’t all keep doing what we are doing. Dairy farming is mentally tough. Far too often we find out about a farmer who ran himself into the ground mentally, physically, or financially. It is a very real and common problem.
Paul
AFA Partner
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On November 2, 2021, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the State of Nutrition in America 2021. Senators and panelists laid out a clear case for the FARMS Act.
While the government tells us our plates should consist largely of fruits & vegetables, currently less than 2% of federal agriculture subsidies go to these healthy foods.
Senator Cory Booker
November 2nd Hearing
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/should-i-be-eating-more-fiber-2019022115927
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/dietary-fiber-us-food-supply
https://sites.tufts.edu/nutrition/winter-2019/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-fiber/ https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/chronic-diseases.htm https://css.umich.edu/sites/default/files/publication/CSS20-01.pdf
The time for action is now! As a grassroots non-profit, we rely on individual donations to support our mission. Please consider donating below to help us make a lasting impact.
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