FARGO, N.D. - Two farm leaders and the head of the region's food bank held a news conference on June 14 to support a Senate farm bill and oppose House versions that would cut food benefits or add impractical work requirements.
North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne, from Jamestown, N.D., and Great Plains Food Bank Chief Executive Officer Steve Sellent, from Fargo, spoke at what they called a "Farm & Food Leaders" news conference Thursday, June 14, in downtown Fargo.
The other farm leader at the meeting was Ryan Taylor, a Towner, N.D., farmer who headed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development agency in the Obama administration and in 2012 was the Democratic-NPL nominee for governor.
The three praised the Senate farm bill, a multi-year piece of legislation, which passed this week but still must pass the full Senate. The Senate version improved the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps).
They underlined the need for a "strong, bipartisan, on-time farm bill for North Dakota and the nation" and drew a contrast with the House version that cuts SNAP benefits and would increase work requirements they say are unworkable.
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Sellant called SNAP the "cornerstone" of food security, costing about $80 million and providing roughly 60 million meals in the state, while the food bank provides about 12 million meals - about five-to-one.
He said there are already work requirements in the program and with the low unemployment rate here, "almost everyone is working."
Sellant said 53,000 North Dakotans rely on benefits from the SNAP program to help fill their nutritional needs each year, and 43 percent of those are children. The food bank, which supplies food pantries from which many North Dakotans can receive excess food donated by companies and buy some USDA surplus stocks, also promotes and educates on SNAP. Some of the food pantries have income requirements for food recipients; some don't, he said.
Half of households receiving SNAP benefits in the state have a member with disabilities; 28 percent have an elderly member. About 80 percent of households with SNAP benefits have at least one family members who works.
Taylor said SNAP must be linked to farm programs to assure bipartisan passage. Watne said simply, "No," when asked if the farm bill could pass without being connected to the SNAP and other food programs. Watne said liberal and "true right-wings" would defeat it for different reasons.
Watne said the nutrition program gives urban members a reason to vote for a farm program that has been vital to farmers here.
The House version of the farm bill failed a floor vote in May. The trio offered repeated praise of U.S. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and John Hoeven, R-N.D. They urged people in the audience to contact Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., to urge him to support a nutrition-friendly version of the bill in the House.
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