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Ranking Member Markey Slams Trump’s Reckless Policies Making Life Unaffordable for Small Agricultural Businesses
Ranking Member of Congress Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) condemned Donald Trump’s attacks on rural communities and heard from Massachusetts witnesses about the importance of supporting small agricultural businesses at a Small Business Committee hearing titled “Growing the Small Business Agricultural Economy.”
Ranking Member Markey and witnesses Erbin Crowell from Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, and Maria Moreira from Lancaster, Massachusetts, emphasized the harm caused by Trump’s attacks on rural economies and agriculture small businesses and the rising health care and energy costs they face, as well as increased costs from tariffs.
Ranking Member Markey and the witnesses also stressed the need for reforms in government food programs to support small and underserved food producers through meaningful legislation, such as Ranking Member Markey’s EFFECTIVE Food Procurement Act, which would push the U.S. Department of Agriculture to better support small and local businesses through federal food purchasing programs—programs that are currently dominated by the country’s largest agricultural businesses.
“Food is more than what we see on our plate—it is the labor of farmers and farm workers, the health of our environment, and the cornerstone of growth for many rural economies,” said Ranking Member Markey.
“President Trump’s policies are creating higher costs and worsening the long-standing problems that small businesses in rural communities have faced. Small businesses in rural America were already struggling with climate change impacts, rising housing costs, retaining workers, and finding a path forward for their small business when they decide to retire. We must address these issues by ensuring that small businesses are prioritized in federal programs—this includes our farmers, fishers, and ranchers in rural America and across Central and Western Massachusetts—not make it harder for them to exist.”
“Cuts to programs like SNAP have a deep impact on food security, particularly in rural areas,” said Erbin Crowell, Executive Director of Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA), Shelburne Falls, MA. “People with limited incomes have less money to spend on healthy food and groceries, which also means sales go down for food co-ops and local farmers. When we think about how these benefits impact not just individuals and families on limited incomes, we have to think about them more systemically as well and understand that they are part of a more sustainable and fair food system that can keep people well-fed and healthy over time.”
“Our farmers are aging, our shifting climate is imposing increasing threats to farmers’ operations, our farmers’ labor force is changing and uncertain, our land prices continue to sky-rocket, and the farmers continue to make pennies on the dollar for their products. Because of the cancellation of the Local Food Program Assistance in March, 500 farmers in Massachusetts and New England did the best they could, but crops were left in the field, unsold.” said Maria Moreira, Founder and Board President of World Farmers, Lancaster, MA. “If we make smart investments in local and regional food purchasing, we can bring much-needed economic stability to local and mid-sized farm businesses while simultaneously increasing access to fresh, healthy foods for those who need it most. Thank you, Senator Markey, for developing and introducing theEFFECTIVE Food Procurement Act, which would prioritize local, sustainable, and just purchasing with our government contracts.”
A champion of rural communities in Massachusetts and across the country, Ranking Member Markey is fighting back against the Trump administration’s war on small agricultural businesses and working families. In March, Ranking Member Markey signed onto a letter denouncing the Trump administration’s cancelation of the Local Food Purchase Assistance and the Local Food for Schools programs, which provided local producers with new opportunities to access markets and helped Massachusetts schools, food banks, and care facilities purchase healthy food from local producers. This reckless decision pulled the rug out from farmers in Massachusetts and in rural communities across the country who had already planted seeds in the ground and cut funding for schools, food banks, and other organizations to buy from local producers.
In October, Ranking Member Markey called on USDA Secretary Rollins to use available funds to avoid a lapse in SNAP food assistance during the Republican government shutdown. Also in October, he joined Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.-07), advocates, and state and local leaders in Boston to highlight the efforts of local food banks and anti-hunger organizations to support Massachusetts families and communities impacted by the shutdown. In November, he joined Senate Democratic colleagues in demanding that the Trump administration reinstate SNAP after the Administration refused to fund the program. demanding that the Trump administration reinstate SNAP after the administration refused to fund the program.
In December, Ranking Member Markey introduced the EFFECTIVE Food Procurement Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve food procurement practices. The legislation would create new procurement goals to support a just, healthy, and sustainable food system that would also support market access for small-scale, historically underserved, and veteran food producers.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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