The conservative Heritage Foundation, which wants to eliminate crop subsidies and revenue insurance policies, also is gunning for food stamps, the largest federal anti-hunger program. In its recent “Blueprint for reform” paper, the foundation says control of food stamps should be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services and that Congress “should introduce work requirements” for able-bodied adults.
“Other programs, like the school meal programs, should also be moved to HHS,” says Heritage. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees public-nutrition programs, “should be eliminated.” The foundation also supports splitting the traditional farm bill into two parts, with agricultural programs in one bill and food stamps in the other.
At their convention this summer, Republicans adopted a platform that said it was “a mistake” that USDA was given control of food stamps five decades ago. The platform calls for separation of food stamps from USDA. Tea Party-influenced House Republicans tried to sever food stamps and farm supports during debate of the 2014 farm law, but House and Senate negotiators reunited them in the final version of the law.
Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, said there might be another attempt to split the titles when lawmakers work on the 2018 farm bill. “Across the board in agriculture, we are pretty united about not separating the titles,” he said, adding that food production and food assistance are complementary issues. As a practical matter, Johnson said, a broad-spectrum bill attracts more support than a narrowly focused bill.
“Blueprint for reform,” released in mid-July, called for the elimination or significant downsizing of eight USDA agencies, including its rural economic development arm, the Forest Service and the Foreign Agricultural Service. “A new USDA should focus on agriculture,” said the paper. “It should not be a money dispenser for agriculture but rather a source of information, conducting necessary and valuable research that the private sector would not produce, promoting free trade and protecting food safety.”
Heritage expanded on its proposals for agricultural programs last week in another report, “Addressing risk in agriculture.” The report advocated elimination of most farm supports with the exception of disaster-relief programs, the elimination of revenue insurance (the most popular from of crop insurance), and a one-time payment to states to “help smooth the transition away from federal subsidies.”