Brown introduces Local Farms and Food Act

By Dusty Sonnenberg, Ohio Ag Net

Based on feedback from Ohio farmers, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is pushing for legislation to make it easier to sell farm products locally, improving and updating existing farm bill programs. 

“Leading up to every farm bill we hold roundtables around the state to hear what Ohio farmers need and in ‘17 and ‘18 at every event I heard a similar message: Ohio’s farmers want to find new markets for their products. They have trouble connecting with Ohio families who always prefer buying fresh, locally grown food,” Brown said in a press conference. “So we fought to include the Local Farms Act in the 2018 farm bill to make it easier for farmers to feed their communities and for customers to buy local food and farm products. We’ve also created the Local Agriculture Market Program(LAMP) program which provides permanent funding to help farmers sell their products direct to consumers to create rural jobs and to invest in local and regional food economies. We started the round table for this year’s farm bill last summer. One of things we’ve talked about is how these programs work for Ohio farmers — what’s working, what needs to be implemented and updated where do we need more investment. It’s why today I’m introducing the Local Farms and Food Act to build on our success in last farm bill to make sure that Ohio farmers have the tools and support they need to sell their products in their own communities.”