Call or write your Senator to ask him/her to co-sponsor the
Community FoodSecurity Act of 1995. Your calls and letters
worked to get the billsuccessfully passed in the House. We
can do it again in the Senate! TheCapitol switchboard number
is 202-224-3121.
The Senate bill was introduced by Sens. Leahy (D-VT) and
Harkin (D-IA) onFriday Sept. 21, and is known as S- 1265. It
is identical to the Houseversion (HR 2003) that was amended
to the Food Stamp Act of the Farm Bill,except that requested
authorization is $4 million rather than $2.5 million.
For those of you contacting Republican senators, let them
know that there isbi-partisan support:* The House bill was
co-sponsored by Rep. Emerson (R-MO) chairman of
theSubcommittee on Nutrition; * Senate Agriculture Chairman
Richard Lugar (R-IN) has expressed hisinterest and may sign
on as a co-sponsor in the near future;
Ask your Senators to contact Diane Coates in Sen. Leahy's
office to sign on.Things are moving fast in Washington.
Please act ASAP. If you need a copy ofthe bill or more
information, please call the Community Food SecurityCoalition
office at 310-822-5410.
Here's some talking points to make when writing your letter
or making yourcall.
* Describe the potential benefits to your state.
* Community food security is about building up a community's
foodresources-especially local agriculture- to meet community
members' foodneeds.
* It promotes local solutions to local problems.
* It takes an empowerment approach (like community gardening)
to hungerproblems.
* It supports the flourishing of family farmers near
metropolitan areas.
* It is not a substitute for federal food assistance
programs, but increasestheir efficiency.
* It encourages a coordination and planning approach to food
and farmingissues to maximize existing programs' efficiency.
* Some examples are: increased support for farmers' markets,
communitygardens, CSAs; support for the Farmers' Market
Nutrition Program; improvedcoordination among all levels of
government; bringing supermarkets into innercity
neighborhoods; and nutrition education.
* The CFS Program provides matching funds to model programs
that increaseaccess to healthy foods by low income consumers
and support localagriculture.
* Would give funding to programs with a proven track record
that providemultiple benefits, like job training,
empowerment, urban greening, pollutionprevention, community
development, & nutrition education.
* It doesn't create new bureaucracies; streamlined
administrative approachneeded.
* Funding requested for first year $2.5-4 million.
Community Food Security Coalition * PO Box 209 * Venice, CA
90294
*310-822-5410
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SAMPLE LETTER FOLLOWS
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October 2, 1995
Honorable Dianne Feinstein US SenateWashington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Feinstein,
I would like to ask you to co-sponsor the Community Food
Security Act of 1995(S-1265), introduced by Senators Leahy
and Harkin on September 21. This billis supported by the
Community Food Security Coalition, representing more than125
organizations nationally, and some 23 in California alone.
In July, the House Subcommittee on Department Operations
chaired by RepEmerson (R-MO), passed a virtually identical
version as part of its Farm Billmarkup. The House version (HR
2003) was amended to the Food Stamp title ofthe Farm Bill by
Representative Sam Farr. It authorizes $2.5 million
infunding. The 25 co-sponsors include California
Representatives George Brown,Ron Dellums, Sam Farr, and Vic
Fazio.
Community food security describes a comprehensive strategy to
provide anaffordable and quality food supply for all members
of a community. This is aparticularly important issue in Los
Angeles. In 1993, the UCLA Department ofUrban Planning
conducted a seminal study of the food system in Los
Angeles,finding that:
* 27% of residents in one South Central neighborhood run out
of money forfood an average of 5 days/month;
* The lack of full service food outlets has left many inner
city residents torely on corner convenience stores, with
their high prices and poor selection,or to spend significant
portions of their income on transportation tooutlying
supermarkets;
* Residents purchasing a basic market basket in inner city
supermarketswould pay $285 more per year than shoppers at
suburban markets;
* Food security strategies such as community gardens and
certified farmers'markets enjoy great success, but their
effectiveness is hindered by a lack ofresources and municipal
attention to supportive policy. {SUBSTITUTE INFO ON YOUR
PROGRAM/HOW IT WOULD HELP YOUR CONSTITUENTS}
The Community Food Security Act of 1995 will support local
food andagriculture projects to address many of these issues.
These projects willprovide multiple benefits at low cost and
empower communities to betterprovide for their overall food
needs. They will demonstrate howpublic-private partnerships
within a community can produce creative solutionsto the local
problems of hunger, access to quality food,
farmlandpreservation, and to the need for economic
development opportunities.
We feel that your support for this effort is very important,
and hope that you will agree to be a co-sponsor. Please
contact Diane Coates, at the Senate Agriculture Committee,
224-2035, to sign on or to obtain more information about the
legislation.
Thank you for considering this bill.