Aligning Public Health and Sustainable Agriculture Goals in the Farm Bill

This presentation arises from a growing collaboration between the sustainable agriculture and public health communities, in recognition of joint goals pertaining to the Farm Bill. It will begin with an overview of what is meant by sustainable agriculture. In addition to outlining key ways the Farm Bill can be used to promote sustainable agriculture goals, it will provide a more in-depth discussion of commodity policies and their impacts on public health, particularly on environmental public health. The presentation will discuss the complexity of understanding how Farm Bill subsidy dollars may translate to public health impacts, and will describe the inequalities in distribution of farm bill subsidies, both in terms of farm size and geography, and also in terms of the corporate concentration to which they contribute to further down the line. The presentation concludes with findings from a joint process to identify synergies between sustainable agriculture and public health priorities in the Farm Bill.