Farm Bill and environmental public health: An overview

The first presentation will provide a descriptive overview of the Farm Bill and five key ways it affects public health: 1) environmental health impacts; 2) nutritional impacts; 3) food security impacts; 4) food safety and infectious disease impacts; 5) impacts on rural incomes and quality of life. The presentation will then drill down into the environmental public health impacts, through description of the relevant Farm Bill programs, level of funding, and impacts. The Farm Bill provides extensive support for industrial agricultural methods with negative environmental impacts, including an indirect subsidy to industrial food animal production. The Farm Bill also supports environmentally beneficial activities, including conservation programs, organic and sustainable agriculture, and local and regional food system work. The presenter will share new "treemapping" displays to depict the relative sizes of these investments. Throughout, the presentation will highlight justice and environmental justice implications including for communities, farmers, workers, and food consumers.