Tulsi Gabbard on Farming, Food Security,Sustainability and Regenerative Agriculture
Tulsi advocates for small farmers, food self-sufficiency, organic agriculture and sustainable agricultural systems that are both profitable for farmers and good for the environment.
In November 2017, Tulsi was recognized as a top national advocate for food policy by Food Policy Action
The release of their 2017 National Food Policy Scorecard recognized the congresswoman’s advocacy to raise the minimum wage, uphold the Clean Water Act, secure paid sick days for working families, protect against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as well as to support food safety, food access, farm subsidies, animal welfare, food and farm labor, nutrition, food additives, food transparency, local and regional food production, organic farming and more.
In July 2018, Tulsi introduced H.R.6474 - AG RESEARCH Act
Augmenting Research and Educational Sites to Ensure Agriculture Remains Cutting-Edge and Helpful Act
The bill requires the Department of Agriculture to: (1) establish a grant program within the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to provide agricultural research facilities with a federal share of the cost for the alteration, modernization, renovation, or remodeling of the research facilities or the equipment necessary for agricultural research; and (2) use specified Commodity Credit Corporation funds to provide direct payments to research facilities of the Agricultural Research Service for addressing deferred maintenance.
In January 2020,
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) introduced H.R.5612, The Small Business and Community Investments Expansion Act, which will allow certain community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and credit unions who are members of a Federal Home Loan Bank to finance small business, agricultural, and community development activities.
Tulsi voted NO on bill that hurts small farmers and favors corporate agribusiness:
The Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2), known as the Farm Bill, would provide disproportionate benefit to large agribusinesses, investment banks, and Wall Street, while undermining family farmers and rural agriculture development.
https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-votes-against-farm-bill-hurts-hawai-i-farmers-local
Tulsi has advocated for sensible, transparent food policy (including GMO labeling). For more information on this, check this :
No other candidate has advocated for regenerative agriculture as much as Tulsi has.
"Environmental degradation has taken us past the point where we can simply “sustain” the status quo. We need regenerative agriculture to actively rebuild one of our most valuable national resources - our farmland."
In November 2017, Tulsi was recognized as a top national advocate for food policy by Food Policy Action
In July 2018, Tulsi introduced H.R.6474 - AG RESEARCH Act
Augmenting Research and Educational Sites to Ensure Agriculture Remains Cutting-Edge and Helpful Act
The bill requires the Department of Agriculture to: (1) establish a grant program within the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to provide agricultural research facilities with a federal share of the cost for the alteration, modernization, renovation, or remodeling of the research facilities or the equipment necessary for agricultural research; and (2) use specified Commodity Credit Corporation funds to provide direct payments to research facilities of the Agricultural Research Service for addressing deferred maintenance.
In January 2020,
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) introduced H.R.5612, The Small Business and Community Investments Expansion Act, which will allow certain community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and credit unions who are members of a Federal Home Loan Bank to finance small business, agricultural, and community development activities.
The Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2), known as the Farm Bill, would provide disproportionate benefit to large agribusinesses, investment banks, and Wall Street, while undermining family farmers and rural agriculture development.
https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-votes-against-farm-bill-hurts-hawai-i-farmers-local
On fighting invasive species affecting farming and ecosystem :
Tulsi introduced Areawide Integrated Pest Management Act of 2018 or the AIPM Act of 2018 :
This bill amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to expand the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program to include grants to colleges, universities, and other entities for qualified areawide integrated pest management projects to prevent the spread of pests and invasive species.
Tulsi is also fully aware that toxic pesticides should not be used to get rid of pests/invasive species as they end up harming in the long run. That is why she was an original co-sponsor of :
H.R.230 — Ban Toxic Pesticides Act of 2019
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/230
For some of her statements/actions/legislations regarding this, check :
"Environmental degradation has taken us past the point where we can simply “sustain” the status quo. We need regenerative agriculture to actively rebuild one of our most valuable national resources - our farmland."
- Tulsi supports regenerative agriculture to actively rebuild one of our most valuable national resources - our farmland
Some other steps she supports for farming and food security:
- Tulsi strongly supports food self-sufficiency including working together to build food aggregation and distribution hubs that serve our farmers, distributors, and local communities to promote self sufficiency
- Tulsi also supports a permanent home for farmers markets, incubator farms, farm-to-school and other educational programs and agri-tourism
- Tulsi has also strongly advocated for the legalization of hemp production for profitable, sustainable agricultural development
For more info on this and the legislation she has introduced/supported, check this :
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