Below are some overall funding highlights and those directly pertaining to the USDA, and those which will most directly effect policy related to food and the food movement:
Local and Regional Food Systems & Agriculture
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Increases funding to $325 million and targets increases or research in areas that are key to American leadership: human nutrition and obesity reduction, food safety, sustainable bioenergy, global food security, and climate change.
- Farm to School Tactical Team —An increase of $2 million is sought to support work at the USDA between agencies to facilitate the building of supporting linkages between schools and local producers.
- Healthy Food Financing Initiative —Provides $35 million as a public-private grant and loan program to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved communities.
- Rural Development Regional Proposal—USDA is again proposing to dedicate 5% of several rural development programs to the development of local and regional food systems.
- Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program —received $5 million in mandatory funding as provided by the 2008 Farm Bill.
- Value-Added Producer Grant Program —The Administration proposes $20 million in discretionary funding, for a wide-range of value-added projects.
- Farmers’ Market Promotion Program —$10 million in mandatory funding as provided by the 2008 Farm Bill.
- SNAP Point of Sale Devices—As proposed in the FY 2011 budget, the President again proposes $4 million to equip farmers’ markets with wireless EBT terminals.
- Rural Housing Assistance – refocuses on programs that work better, providing 170,000 new homeownership opportunities, of which at least 30,000 are expected to go to low income rural borrowers.
Nutrition & Hunger Programs
- 2012 Farm Bill —The Obama Administration is committed to working with Congress to reauthorize the 2008 Farm Bill and simplify programs, improve access, target payments, and enhance program performance and efficiency. As part of this collaboration, USDA will also work with the Congress to improve access to SNAP benefits, program operations, and program integrity.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) —$73.2 billion in mandatory funding. The Administration re-proposes to temporarily suspend the time benefit limits for certain working-age, low-income adults without dependents for an additional fiscal year. The Budget also proposes to restore the SNAP cuts that were used to offset the costs of Child Nutrition Reauthorization.
- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) —$7.4 billion was proposed, an increase of approximately $138 million above the 2011 level. This funding will support a monthly average of 9.6 million participants in the WIC program, as well as $60 million to help states work toward implementation of EBT, which is mandated by 2020.
- Child Nutrition Reauthorization—The budget funds changes from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 , as they become effective in 2012. Improving access to food for children and improving their eating habits are top priorities.
- Increasing Access to Child Nutrition Programs—New school breakfast expansion grants and state childhood hunger challenge grants funded at $10 million and $25 million, to increase access to Child Nutrition programs, and combat child hunger.
- Healthier US School Challenge —Funding will be increased to $1.5 million in FY 2012 so that work to encourage schools to take a leadership role in helping students learn to make healthier eating and lifestyle choices will be strengthened.
- WIC and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs—Both programs were level funded at $20 million and $21 million, respectively.
- Hunger Free Community Grants—$5 million was proposed for the grants to focus on promotion, outreach, demonstration projects, and technical assistance to support communities in exploring local strategies to prevent hunger.
- Congressional Hunger Center Fellowship—$3 million included to level fund the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowship program.
Conservation and Energy
- Renewable and clean energy - Invests $6.5 billion to spur the creation of high-value jobs, make America more energy independent, and drive global competitiveness in the sector.
- Forest restoration - Maximizes efficiency and effectiveness of efforts to improve forest health and resiliency by combining and streamlining multiple programs.
- Wetlands Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program – Provides funds to restore and protect 271,158 acres of wetlands and provide over $1.4 billion for conservation assistance.
However, not all proposals were positive, the President’s 2011 budget would eliminate funding for two important programs, Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center (HUFED) (http://www.wallacecenter.org/our-work/current-initiatives/healthy-urban-food-enterprise-development-center ) and the School Community Garden pilot program (Both these programs were funded at $1 million in FY 2010.
Currently, the FY 2012 Budget must still pass through Congress, who will make the final funding decisions. (At this time Congress has yet to decided on government spending levels for FY 2011). While Congress and the President agree that cuts need to be made in order to reduce the federal deficit, their opinions diverge around differ is how and where the cuts will occur. Therefore, many of the above sums are likely to change before the budget is finalized.
For the full detail of the FY 2012 Budget, click here.
For PBS coverage of President Obama’s budget address, click here.
For NY Times coverage of the 2012 budget, click here.
