MiSBF Policy Briefing: Sustainable Business and the Farm Bill with Senator Debbie Stabenow
Michigan Sustainable Business Forum will host a briefing on the 2024 U.S. Farm Bill with Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and a panel of experts that will highlight its opportunities to advance sustainable agriculture, conservation and climate investments, food insecurity, economic equity, food waste, and organics recycling.
The farm bill is a package of legislation passed roughly once every five years that has a tremendous impact on farming livelihoods, how food is grown, and what kinds of foods are grown. Every five years, the farm bill expires and is updated: it goes through an extensive process where it is proposed, debated, and passed by Congress and is then signed into law by the President.
This spring, U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, which contains more than 100 bipartisan bills and puts the 2024 Farm Bill back on track to being signed into law by the end of the year.
Senator Stabenow is a champion for Michigan agriculture and rural communities. As Committee Chair she wrote the bipartisan 2014 Farm Bill, which streamlined more than 100 programs while making historic investments in land and water conservation, local food systems, and specialty crops. She co-authored the historic 2018 Farm Bill, which passed on a strong bipartisan Senate vote of 87-13 – the most votes in favor of a Farm Bill in history.