Washington, D.C. — Today, the House Agriculture Committee will mark up its draft Farm Bill. Not only does this draft fail to meet the urgent needs of farmers, consumers and the environment, but it also contains several unpopular industry-backed provisions. The bill: 

• Doubles down on devastating cuts to federal food assistance by not restoring HR 1 cuts to the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
• Increases funding for dirty factory farm gas projects through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), despite documented project failures and loan defaults. 
• Prioritizes Big Ag over people by including The EATS Act, re-introduced this session as the Save Our Bacon Act, which would strip state and local governments of their ability to pass agricultural policies within their own borders, overturning hundreds of state laws.
• Protects pesticide companies over cancer patients by including The Cancer Gag Act, which would shield pesticide corporations from health-related lawsuits. Roundup producer Bayer has spent over $11 billion settling more than 100,000 cancer lawsuits related to the pesticide’s key ingredient, glyphosate, which the World Health Organization defines as a probable carcinogen; last week, Bayer proposed an over $7 billion settlement for the tens of thousands of pending cancer lawsuits.

Food & Water Watch Senior Food Policy Analyst Rebecca Wolf issued the following statement:

“This Farm Bill proposal is nothing more than an industry wish list. It is a spit in the face for farmers, crushed by Trump’s tariff tantrum; for rural communities, sickened by agricultural chemicals; and for the millions going hungry without SNAP.

“After years of delay, House Republicans should be ashamed that this is all they can bring to the table. We need farm policy that delivers for farmers and consumers — not Big Ag corporations. A fair Farm Bill wouldn’t include the cruel Cancer Gag Act nor the dangerous EATS Act. Congress must reject this farcical proposal. Instead, we need a Farm Bill that restores SNAP funding; stops funneling tax dollars to concentrated Big Ag corporations; and supports the transition to healthy, affordable food.”