About the Healthy Farms, Healthy Food Campaign

This month Stonyfield Farm yogurt lids urge consumers to sign a petition to Congress to help stop sprawl.

America's farmers, ranchers and forest landowners produce an extraordinary bounty of food, energy and fiber - as well as clean air, clean water and habitat for wildlife. But, farm and food policies could do much more to meet the needs of farmers, consumers and communities.

Renewal of federal farm and food programs in 2007 creates a rare opportunity to boost profitability of many more farmers and communities, provide consumers with more food and energy choices, and reward farmers when they take steps to help meet the nation's most pressing environmental challenges.

Environmental Defense and Stonyfield Farm mobilize consumers with a petition to Congress

Every minute the U.S. loses two acres of farmland to development.  Environmental Defense and Stonyfield Farm have teamed up to fight sprawl with a petition to Congress that's being advertised on the lids of Stonyfield Farm yogurt. 

•  Tell congress to take action on farm and food policy reform
• See the yogurt lids

Environmental Defense Proposes
A Dozen Fresh Ideas

• Help more farmers 
• Reward good stewards 
• Boost renewables 
• Reward innovation 
• Reward higher levels of stewardship 
• Get ready for carbon cap 
• Help farmers transition to organic 
• Target land restoration efforts 
• Protect 10 million acres from sprawl 
• Promote cooperative conservation 
• Promote healthy food choices 
• Cultivate a new generation of stewards

Promote Healthy Food Choices

Fresh Idea #11

America faces a health crisis today that threatens to undermine many of the public health gains made over the past century—and many of these threats come from changes in what we eat. Rising rates of diet-related diseases such as diabetes have increased the cost of America’s health care system by about $100 billion a year, and the current generation of children may be the first to be less healthy and have a shorter life span than their parents.

Many Americans are searching for ways to eat food that is healthier and grown in ways that minimize harm to the environment. Many consumers also want to support local farmers. This consumer demand is driving the growth of new market opportunities for farmers. For example, the number of farmers markets more than doubled between 1994 and 2004 to more than 3,700 markets. Nearly 3 million consumers passed through farmers markets in 2004, spending approximately $1 billion.

Renewal of farm and food policies provides an opportunity to help meet consumer demand and address our nation’s health challenges. Policymakers should dramatically expand programs that provide consumers, especially our children, with healthier food choices.

In particular, policymakers should expand programs that provide healthy snacks to our school children and should ensure that school lunches meet dietary guidelines. The next Farm Bill should also expand programs that link schools, hospitals and other large institutions with local producers of fruits and vegetables. Linking consumers with local farmers—and building the shipping, packing and processing infrastructure to facilitate these connections—would improve diets, reduce health care expenses, and improve the profitability of farmers threatened by sprawling development. To accelerate the growth of farmers markets, policymakers should expand existing coupon programs that give elderly and low-income Americans greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables sold at farmers markets, and should expand programs that provide grants to establish and expand farmers markets in urban areas.

For more information on this and other envirmental articles go to

www.environmentaldefense.org