Members of the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) met with incoming House Agriculture Committee Chair Representative Glenn Thompson on Jan. 13 for a farm bill listening session.

The focus of the meeting was to discuss IFPA and the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance priorities and opportunities in the upcoming legislation.

Topics discussed included expanding access and availability to healthy and affordable foods like fresh produce to encourage healthy eating, along with mandating a proportional share of farm fill resources and spending for specialty crops.

“Farm policy translates to food policy and IFPA is committed to ensuring key members of Congress understand who the fresh produce and floral industry is, what our needs are, and why we need their leadership to succeed,” said IFPA Vice President of U.S. Government Relations Rebeckah Adcock.

Renewed roughly every five years, the farm bill impacts nearly every aspect of agriculture in the U.S., including farmers’ lives and work, production, volumes, as well as the practices that they are able to implement on their lands.

The 2023 bill in particular comes at a time when agricultural producers and workers have continued to deal with rising input costs, labor shortages, logistics issues and adverse weather events.

The present bill, introduced in 2018, will expire on Sep. 30.