Agriculture lies at the heart of our nation’s prosperity, and the Farm Bill plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of this essential industry. As we approach the reauthorization of the Farm Bill in 2023, the International Farm Policy Association (IFPA) has been working diligently to ensure that the legislation addresses the ever-evolving needs of farmers, rural communities, and the environment. On today’s episode, we’ll have guests, Mollie Van Lieu, Vice President of Nutrition and Health at IFPA, and Rebeckah Adcock, Vice President of US Government Relations, discussing IFPA’s vital role in the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization and highlight some key areas they are focusing on.

 

Transcript:

 

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[Lori Taylor]: All right, everybody, welcome

back. This is the Produce Moms podcast. It’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that beautiful time of year in

Washington, DC, where everyone is talking about

 

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[Lori Taylor]: farm bills. So we are so excited

to bring on Rebecca Adcock and Molly Van Loo.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: You all know Molly, she’s been

a guest on this podcast before. She’s the Vice

 

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[Lori Taylor]: President of Nutrition and Health

at the International Fresh Produce Association.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: And Rebecca. is the vice president

of US government relations. So she really takes

 

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[Lori Taylor]: a leadership role on behalf of

the entire industry as it relates to this massive

 

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[Lori Taylor]: piece of policy that has more

of an effect on our food supply and then probably

 

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[Lori Taylor]: most of us want to admit or realize.

So with that, we’re gonna talk about an area

 

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[Lori Taylor]: of my professional life that

brings me great joy and purpose. I love when

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I get to collaborate with strong

women like Molly, Rebecca, all the other representatives

 

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[Lori Taylor]: at IFPA and support the advancement

of fruits and vegetables as it relates to our

 

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[Lori Taylor]: nation’s nutrition policy. And

then of course, all of the government affairs

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that affect farming and our national

food security. So with that ladies, welcome

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to the show. Rebecca, since you’ve

never been here before, we’ll invite you to

 

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[Lori Taylor]: the mic first and to introduce

yourself to our audience.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah, so happy day

everybody. Happy to be here representing the

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: fresh produce industry

and florals at IFPA. And we are mid range of

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: working with the

hill on trying to advance the specialty crop

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and produce priorities

for the farm bill. Farm policy is food policy.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And that’s something

that, you know, unless you’re dealing with

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: the USDA and some

of the… the halls of government on a regular

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: basis might not seem

intuitive. It is a five year reauthorization

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that we do to make

sure that USDA has the authority and the programs

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and the resources

it needs to represent food and farm production,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: as well as many of

the mechanisms and regulations and rules and

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: things like that,

that affect food in the US across the board.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and we have a lot

of priorities and are working hard before

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: it expires at the

end of September.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Well, we’re gonna dive into those

priorities and give you a chance to kind of

 

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[Lori Taylor]: help call out the critical issues

and what’s been, what’s top of mind for you,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Rebecca, and the whole team at

IFPA right now. But Molly, reintroduce yourself

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to our audience. Welcome back

to the Produce Moms podcast. I can’t remember

 

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[Lori Taylor]: how many episodes you’ve had

now. Four, five? I’m not quite sure. Anytime

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I need to talk about. Policy,

school meals, child nutrition. Molly is the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: woman I call. She’s been a mentor

to me on the Hill. And I just have the highest

 

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[Lori Taylor]: level of respect and she’s become

a good friend. So it’s always a good day when

 

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[Lori Taylor]: you get to collaborate with friends.

Molly, welcome back.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Thank you, Lori.

It’s great to be back, and it’s been great

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to get blisters together

on the hill and promote fresh produce and drink

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: fermented produce

when appropriate. So great to be back here

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and talk about such

an important issue.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Thank you. Well, Rebecca, you

mentioned, we should probably start at the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: top. I feel like this is a schoolhouse

rock song at this

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: point. Help define what is Farm

Bill. You mentioned it’s every five years.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I know that every year, or every

time we, it has a new name, but Farm Bill’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: like the commonplace name. So

help people understand the fact that this is

 

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[Lori Taylor]: one of, if not the largest piece

of policy, I think it’s the largest, but.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: It

 

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[Lori Taylor]: If

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it’s not the largest, it’s up

there. Like it’s a top priority in DC. It happens

 

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[Lori Taylor]: every five years. Rebecca, help

people understand what farm bill even is.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So, you know, the

Farm Bill has been around in its connotation

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: since the 30s. And

it used to be very specific to farm production

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and some things we

think in the traditional commodity crops. It

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: has since expanded

over the last, you know, multiple, gosh, nearly

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: pushing 100 years

to include everything from conservation to

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: crop insurance to

elements of food safety for meats that are

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: included. and regulated

by USDA to rural development, to energy, to

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: forestry, to all

the things that encompass who USDA is and what

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: they do for the American

people in the food and fiber and fuel system.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And so the Farm Bill

is the single largest investment in agriculture

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and food period across

the board

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: for the federal government.

and specialty crops are extremely, specialty

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: crops and produce

are an extremely important part of that, obviously,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and we have lots

of ideas on how we think we can do better and

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: be, have a more robust

opportunity to make sure that the specialty

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: crop and produce

industry is prospering and also able to provide

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and meet the demand

for the American consumer.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Well, I love that. All right,

another clarifying question. Specialty crops,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that’s a term we’re gonna throw

around a lot.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Rebecca,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: uh,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: help people understand, yeah,

help people understand what specialty crops

 

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[Lori Taylor]: represents. And when you were

stating it in these introductory remarks, you

 

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[Lori Taylor]: were saying specialty crops and

fresh produce. So like why the qualifier for

 

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[Lori Taylor]: fresh produce when using the

terminology specialty crops?

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So this is another

one of those DC, you know, lingoes. Specially

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: crops is the very

broad term used to describe the entirety of

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: all the people out

there producing or dealing with things that

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: are outside of what

we call the traditional row crops. There

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Okay.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is literally an entire

part of the farm bill that deals with what

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: we consider the more

traditional commodities that are traded in

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a marketplace, the

corn, the soybeans, wheat. several other things,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: some of the cereal

crops. For those of us who are dealing, especially

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in the fresh industry,

but also I’ll say, you know, many specialty

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: crops are processed

as well.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: We work together

as a block on other parts of the farm bill

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: now, especially since

2008, when we gained many very specific programs.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So the fresh produce

industry falls within the context of the larger

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: specialty crop. grouping

and sector and we work together with them on

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: the things that benefit

us broadly and then also especially in Molly

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: space things that

are very specific to Fresh.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Love that. All right, so, Rebecca,

I’m gonna keep the mic with you, because I’d

 

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[Lori Taylor]: like to just kind of outline

for folks, if you were to, if someone were

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to ask you, like, what are the

top priorities going into this farm bill? What

 

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[Lori Taylor]: are you really working on right

now? Do you have

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Oh

 

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[Lori Taylor]: categories or like a list of

items that you could say are the industry’s

 

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[Lori Taylor]: top priorities as we button up

farm bill efforts?

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Absolutely. So the

industry, our sector, the specialty crop and

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: produce sector, has

109 very discreet things that we have at, we’re

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: asking for, which

is a huge uptick from the previous cycle for

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: the farm bill. But

that is a sign of exactly how influential and

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: significant we believe

our place in the economy and in the consumer’s

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: life is. And so those

are very discreet, specific things. But broadly

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: speaking, we’re looking

at everything from better managing risk, financial

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: risk in production,

things like more options for more and more

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: meaningful options

for crop insurance that are very lacking. So

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: when things happen

in the environment, things happen, you know,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: with weather, things

happen even in the marketplace. Most businesses

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: have an insurance

backup insurance policy that can prevent, protect

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and help make them

whole if those bad things happen. For the specialty

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: crop and produce

sector, those options are very lacking or limited

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: or non-existent.

And USDA has a whole regulatory scheme in place

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that defines

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: how those things

work. We’re also looking at some other tweaks

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to some other ways

that our sector can qualify and participate

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in things, grants,

cost shares, everything from conservation to

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: disaster assistance

to a lot of other things We can be limited

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: on whether we can

participate based on how you calculate your

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: tax books, your adjusted

gross income. We don’t operate and look and

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: live like the commodity

groups or the commodity sector. Our folks do

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: business in a different

way. We do it year round, we grow multiple

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: things. So it can

look like we’re perhaps more affluent than

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: we actually are.

in real life and how we function. And so we’re

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: looking to have that

reflected, to have some accommodations and

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to have USDA have

to acknowledge that we have a lot of folks

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: who are middle-class

operators, but that are treated like they’re

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: much more affluent

because of the books that were designed for

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: how people grow soybeans.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So important things

like that, the bottom line kind of issues for

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: production. The next

thing that we’re prioritizing is research,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and that is across

the board. And that is everything from a program

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: specially designed

for us called the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: It has not had additional

funding for a couple of farm drill cycles.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And we know that

it is very overprescribed. There is a lot of

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: need across the 300

plus crops and products that are out there.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And $50 million really

doesn’t go a long way when you have, you know,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: most research projects.

are multiple year and multiple millions of

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: dollars. So you’re

not really hitting that need, which is tremendous

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: for the specialty

crop sector. We also know that there is a very

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: specific need relating

to automation, relating to mechanization, all

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: these things that

we can do to relieve some of the labor pressures.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: I know you’ve spoken

with our colleague, John Holly, about the tremendous

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: limiting factor it

is to not have domestic workers who seem to

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: be willing to do

the farm labor work, but we do have folks who

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: would like, you know,

are able and willing to come in for the right

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: conditions and purpose

to do that work from elsewhere. That program

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is still not where

it needs to be and not providing the labor

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that we need. So

like other industries, we would love the opportunity

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to see more availability

of mechanization, automation, technologies

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that would help.

make up that difference. It’s not going to

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: fix it all, but it

certainly can make us more efficient and let

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: us better meet the

demand domestically, hopefully for a better

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: price. And then we

have a

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: lot of programs that

we’re trying to maintain, a lot of programs

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to maintain.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Okay, and then when you say programs

to maintain, I feel like that’s maybe a good

 

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[Lori Taylor]: segue into Molly because I’m

guessing a lot of these programs that we want

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to maintain do fall under her

umbrella efforts of nutrition and health. I

 

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[Lori Taylor]: mean, Molly has been a total

champion in DC for our industry as it relates

 

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[Lori Taylor]: to tripling the fruit and vegetable

benefit in WIC. The efforts that our industry

 

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[Lori Taylor]: put forward to make USDA school

meals a free offering. during the COVID-19

 

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[Lori Taylor]: pandemic and some of the progress

that’s happened stateside in certain areas.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: And of course the ongoing efforts

to make that a universal free offering at the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: national scale. So with that,

Molly, you’re in the hot seat now. We’re gonna

 

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[Lori Taylor]: talk about programs that want

to be, continued and things that are from the

 

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[Lori Taylor]: nutrition and health lens, what

your top priorities are when you’re meeting

 

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[Lori Taylor]: with congressional leaders and

staffers on this farm bill.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah, so the Farm

Bill is organized by titles, and one of those

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: titles is the nutrition

title. And within that title, it really focuses

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: on kind of direct

resources, food resources that we’re giving

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to low-income people.

And it’s kind of a pet peeve of mine that we

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: just consider that

one title, the nutrition title, because…

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Certainly how we

invest or don’t invest in the farm bill more

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: broadly is impacting

how everybody’s eating, low income or not.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So I actually think

the entire farm bill is a nutrition program,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: but I’m digressing

a little bit. So the particular issues that

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: we’re focusing on

for this farm bill cycle is the SNAP program

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: or the food stamp

program. that feeds millions of Americans in

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: trying to increase

access to fruits and vegetables. It’s a really

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: tough job to do that

for a multitude of reasons, but we do have

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: incentive programs

that double up buck style, that are really

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: fabulous if you can

participate in them, but only about three percent

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of snack consumers

have access to that. We’d really like to see,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: I know, We’d really

like to see expansion of that. There’s some

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: interesting things

happening with statewide expansion. So certain

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: states are wanting

to take a leadership role in running those

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: programs, which will

really just streamline, try to embed those

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: incentives on the

EBT card directly. So we’d love to see that

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: modest. investments

in produce prescriptions. You can’t really

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: scale produce prescriptions

through the farm bill, but we can invest in

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: research through

the farm bill to get the health care sector

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: the data that they

need to do that in more of a private setting.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Also looking at the

fresh fruit and vegetable program, which I

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: know is near and

dear to your heart as well, which is designed

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to really, I mean,

it’s a nutrition program, but it’s really an

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: exposure program

and letting kids where fruits and vegetables

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: come from. And it’s

been shown to reduce obesity rates for kids

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that can participate

in it. But again, another program that’s just

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: hugely popular but

doesn’t have enough funding for all the schools

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that wanna participate.

And then,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: And

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Molly, of course, I’ve got to

expand on that. Like I’m jumping in

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Thank

 

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[Lori Taylor]: with my

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: commentary now that we’re talking

FFVP. All right, so Fresh Fruit and Vegetable

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Program for folks that are unaware,

this is a fresh form fruit or vegetable that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: is served in the classroom as

a snack, either before lunch is served or after

 

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[Lori Taylor]: lunch is served. We’ve all been

there with our own kids. We remember our school

 

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[Lori Taylor]: days where like, in a lot of

these cafeterias across the nation, lunch is

 

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[Lori Taylor]: being served at around 10 a.m.

you know so for those for kids who have that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: lunch hour they’re then getting

the snack more than likely closer to you know

 

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[Lori Taylor]: the afternoon times and then

vice versa like if you’re not eating lunch

 

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[Lori Taylor]: until 1 p.m. your FFVP snack

would be served in the a.m. hours but really

 

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[Lori Taylor]: important and the exposure program

I’m so glad you brought that up. Um, a quick

 

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[Lori Taylor]: story for folks. I I’ve been

heavily involved with FFVP supporting, uh,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: the efforts at IFPA. And, and

Molly, how long has it been around? I mean,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I feel like it’s, it was like

five years ago. I was, we were working on this

 

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[Lori Taylor]: even like with Lorelei

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: before you were a member of FF

or IFPA.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah, so it actually

started about 20 years ago, but as pilot program,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: but it was, you know,

so wildly popular that it became a national

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: program. But yeah,

we’re constantly fighting to

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Mm-hmm.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: maintain the integrity

of it and more funding for it. So I’ve got

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a great story on

that, Lori.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Great.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: My kids were in grade

school. They’re now

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in high school, but

in grade school, back to your point of it being

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a pilot program,

their school evidently was in the pilot program.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And when my kids

were in lower elementary school, they talked

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: very consistently

about the sampling, the interesting fruit or

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: vegetable they got

to try that day. And I was like, what is this

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: going on? And it

had exactly that effect. And even if they didn’t

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: always like it or

whatever, they thought it was kind of cool

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that they got to

do this thing, this new thing.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: 100%

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And

 

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[Lori Taylor]: yeah

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: imagine for the kids,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: absolutely.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: they didn’t get any

of that exposure at home. It’s powerful stuff.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: from the mouths of

children.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Completely agree and I’ve been,

I’ve supported Indianapolis Public Schools

 

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[Lori Taylor]: in various capacities over the

last decade plus of my career and at one point

 

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[Lori Taylor]: when FFVP was expanded district

wide at IPS, I was doing some in classroom

 

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[Lori Taylor]: just like monitoring, supporting

the district and whatnot. And I was able to

 

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[Lori Taylor]: ask the students some questions

and one of the questions I asked was, So how

 

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[Lori Taylor]: many of you tried a fruit or

a vegetable for the first time through this

 

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[Lori Taylor]: program? 100% of the hands went

up in the classroom. And that to me was, that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: was the moment where I was like,

this program can never die. Like this program

 

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[Lori Taylor]: is so critically important. And

bringing not just that exposure of really fun

 

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[Lori Taylor]: and our… our industry supply

chain does a great job, whether it’s unique

 

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[Lori Taylor]: cuts or unique varieties of fruits

and vegetables, really vibrant colors, it might

 

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[Lori Taylor]: be purple cauliflower and so

just white cauliflower, stuff like that. So

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it certainly lends to the interest

with that, but it also, when we think about

 

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[Lori Taylor]: some of the school districts

where this program is in place, it’s providing

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that fresh form produce to students

that otherwise, truly don’t have access. So

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it’s absolutely one of my favorite

programs that you’re advocating for in DC.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I applaud the efforts with that

one and all of the good work. But okay, so

 

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[Lori Taylor]: SNAP, FFVP, what else is on the,

school meals, universal free offering, Molly,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: that has to be something you’re

talking about right now, right?

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah, so, you know,

a lot of, as you said, a lot of the movement

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is happening at the

state level. I mean, unfortunately, it’s,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Firmwell doesn’t

have jurisdiction over it, and that’s kind

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of the vehicle that’s

moving right now because it expires September

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: 30th. So we’ve been

having to kind of focus, you know, on what

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is moving, but that’s

certainly still top of mind. And it’s so powerful.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: I mean, that’s just

the power of policy, because, as you said,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: during the pandemic,

Universal free meals were served, which is

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: something advocates

have been asking for decades, and it was always

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a hard no from everybody,

honestly, regardless of political positioning.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: But

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Right.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: once it was piloted,

schools and states really saw the benefit of

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: making sure that

kids, you know, had full stomachs at school.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So you’re seeing

a lot of state leadership, again, like regardless

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of red state, blue

state of understanding the value of it. So

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: we’re definitely

still pushing for that. The other big area

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: within the Farm Bill

is the procurement program. USDA buys billions

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of dollars worth

of food every single year that makes its way

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to food banks around

the country. And while it does follow the dietary

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: guidelines, they

have kind of an antiquated system and how they’re

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: buying and moving.

um food which just doesn’t um make it inclusive

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of a wide variety

of fruits and vegetables so this is all domestically

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: produced fruits and

vegetables but they’re only buying five commodities

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: right now um so we

really love to see USDA

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Wow,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: can

 

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[Lori Taylor]: hang

 

308

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: tap

 

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[Lori Taylor]: on.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in i

 

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[Lori Taylor]: They’re buying

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: know

 

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[Lori Taylor]: five

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: yeah

 

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[Lori Taylor]: commodities? That is not,

 

316

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: great commodities

 

317

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[Lori Taylor]: that’s not okay.

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: white potatoes, oranges,

apples and pears, which we love. I’ve memorized

 

319

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: this by now, I’m

so proud of myself. But we have this beautiful

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: bounty, right, of

a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: are domestically

produced. And we’re not exposing people to

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that because of just

this antiquated system. That’s the only reason

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: why. So we’d love

to see USDA contract directly with the existing

 

324

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: supply chain that

knows how to do this work to get, you know,

 

325

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: the full bounty of

what. American farmers grow to those in need.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Well, and compare that,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I think the last stat I saw,

I’m not sure the exact, you know, I’m not sure

 

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[Lori Taylor]: if this is precise still, but

roundabout folks, your average produce department

 

330

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[Lori Taylor]: has over 200 skews of fresh fruits

and vegetables. When I was working in the wholesale

 

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[Lori Taylor]: distribution warehouse, we’re

talking thousands of skews of fruits and vegetables

 

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[Lori Taylor]: is what we were selling on a

daily basis. So there is, this is not a situation

 

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[Lori Taylor]: where, you know, like I, five,

I’m not good at math, but like that’s not even,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: That’s not even 5% of what we

grow in America. You know, it was like, so

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it really, it really does make

sense to push for that. And I’m glad you brought

 

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[Lori Taylor]: it up because I’ll certainly

join you, you know, with advocating for that.

 

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[Lori Taylor]: Consuming more fruits and vegetables

in volume and variety are absolutely critical

 

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[Lori Taylor]: for our nation’s health, the

ability for our growers and this, you know,

 

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[Lori Taylor]: we farm in all 50 states. So

it’s important too that we have that. that

 

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[Lori Taylor]: diversity of offerings through

this USDA Buyback program. But yeah,

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Lori, I have

 

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[Lori Taylor]: I…

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: another two statistics

that work into that for the overall reason

 

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: why the farm bill

matters. The nutrition standards say fruits

 

345

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[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and veg should be

half the plate, right? Half the plate.

 

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00:22:51,229 –> 00:22:51,460

[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

347

00:22:52,204 –> 00:22:56,828

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And if you wanna

look at the resources that the farm bill dedicates

 

348

00:22:56,848 –> 00:22:59,410

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to, I’m gonna say

specialty crops, because that’s how it talks

 

349

00:22:59,430 –> 00:23:03,717

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: about it. It’s less

than 4%. That’s for the ag programs. If you

 

350

00:23:03,817 –> 00:23:06,879

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: even add in Molly’s

portfolio, the nutrition program, which is

 

351

00:23:07,099 –> 00:23:10,161

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: by far the biggest

chunk of funding for the farm bill. But if

 

352

00:23:10,181 –> 00:23:13,243

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you add in the things

that are specific to produce, not just fresh

 

353

00:23:13,283 –> 00:23:17,106

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: produce, but just

produce period specialty crops, it’s still

 

354

00:23:17,206 –> 00:23:21,209

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: somewhere between

8-10% depending on how those final numbers

 

355

00:23:21,329 –> 00:23:25,652

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: budgetarily work

out. So half the plate gets that percentage

 

356

00:23:26,192 –> 00:23:29,314

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of dedicated resources

in the farm bill. The things that people are

 

357

00:23:29,374 –> 00:23:32,356

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: really, really like

going to the store, picking up and buying.

 

358

00:23:33,221 –> 00:23:36,823

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in some form. So

that’s, you know, we’re not going to get that

 

359

00:23:36,843 –> 00:23:41,406

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to half, you know,

overnight, but we know we can make the case

 

360

00:23:41,706 –> 00:23:43,747

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that it’s very important

to invest

 

361

00:23:43,901 –> 00:23:46,422

[Lori Taylor]: Yeah,

 

362

00:23:44,208 –> 00:23:46,449

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in this sector. So

we wonder why we have the

 

363

00:23:46,442 –> 00:23:46,503

[Lori Taylor]: I

 

364

00:23:46,469 –> 00:23:46,669

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: health

 

365

00:23:46,543 –> 00:23:46,883

[Lori Taylor]: agree.

 

366

00:23:46,769 –> 00:23:46,869

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: care.

 

367

00:23:46,943 –> 00:23:52,387

[Lori Taylor]: Of course, I had a snarky comeback.

I’m like, that sounds like DC. They want us

 

368

00:23:52,407 –> 00:23:55,489

[Lori Taylor]: to make it half of our plate,

but they’re only gonna support 8%.

 

369

00:23:55,621 –> 00:23:56,508

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Right, exactly.

 

370

00:23:56,871 –> 00:24:01,674

[Lori Taylor]: Yeah, but really now’s not the

time to be snarky. And I think that’s also

 

371

00:24:01,714 –> 00:24:09,160

[Lori Taylor]: worth a call out. One of my favorite

things about our industry and all of the professionals

 

372

00:24:09,380 –> 00:24:14,442

[Lori Taylor]: that… come together to do this

political action and lobbying to advance agriculture.

 

373

00:24:14,902 –> 00:24:19,423

[Lori Taylor]: It really is, people ask me about

it all the time. And they’re like, so does

 

374

00:24:19,463 –> 00:24:22,864

[Lori Taylor]: what you do, like lean left or

lean right? I’m like, neither, it’s not even

 

375

00:24:22,964 –> 00:24:29,326

[Lori Taylor]: bipartisan. This is nonpartisan,

this is food. And it is so much bigger than

 

376

00:24:29,346 –> 00:24:34,287

[Lori Taylor]: a political party. And it’s so

much bigger even, Molly, than nutrition and

 

377

00:24:34,327 –> 00:24:42,797

[Lori Taylor]: health. This is national security

at the highest form. So, but yeah, so I, okay,

 

378

00:24:43,438 –> 00:24:43,978

[Lori Taylor]: back to, you

 

379

00:24:43,949 –> 00:24:44,109

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Food

 

380

00:24:43,998 –> 00:24:44,178

[Lori Taylor]: guys

 

381

00:24:44,169 –> 00:24:44,829

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: security

 

382

00:24:44,218 –> 00:24:44,839

[Lori Taylor]: get the mic now.

 

383

00:24:47,270 –> 00:24:48,871

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is 100% foundational.

 

384

00:24:50,631 –> 00:24:50,820

[Lori Taylor]: Yeah.

 

385

00:24:50,691 –> 00:24:54,793

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: I had a little boss

that my previous boss would say, if people

 

386

00:24:54,853 –> 00:24:59,515

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: are well fed and

feel taken care of, they have lots of problems.

 

387

00:24:59,895 –> 00:25:02,417

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: If they’re not well

fed, they have one problem.

 

388

00:25:05,125 –> 00:25:13,148

[Lori Taylor]: You’re right. So Rebecca, you

called out the financial risks, the research,

 

389

00:25:13,168 –> 00:25:18,590

[Lori Taylor]: the programming. What I feel

like I hear about every time I come to DC is

 

390

00:25:18,630 –> 00:25:18,970

[Lori Taylor]: labor.

 

391

00:25:19,533 –> 00:25:19,932

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Mm-hmm.

 

392

00:25:20,011 –> 00:25:23,952

[Lori Taylor]: Is that still a top priority?

Does that fall under, you

 

393

00:25:23,917 –> 00:25:23,977

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: 100%.

 

394

00:25:23,992 –> 00:25:26,513

[Lori Taylor]: know, it kind of fits all of

those. Yeah,

 

395

00:25:26,453 –> 00:25:26,595

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah.

 

396

00:25:26,794 –> 00:25:30,595

[Lori Taylor]: so anything that we wanna share

about the state of labor in our industry, I

 

397

00:25:30,615 –> 00:25:35,049

[Lori Taylor]: think everyone’s kind of seeing

it from a consumer lens, like, Labor’s a threat

 

398

00:25:35,069 –> 00:25:37,272

[Lori Taylor]: to every industry at this point,

but

 

399

00:25:37,186 –> 00:25:37,480

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: it is.

 

400

00:25:37,332 –> 00:25:42,939

[Lori Taylor]: it’s been a threat to, it’s been

a threat to, and a critical priority, I should

 

401

00:25:42,979 –> 00:25:49,266

[Lori Taylor]: say, for agriculture, I think

probably forever, but go ahead, Rebecca, and

 

402

00:25:49,286 –> 00:25:51,008

[Lori Taylor]: share any remarks that you’d

like on labor.

 

403

00:25:51,885 –> 00:25:59,268

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So labor is the need

for a reliable, stable, legal workforce in

 

404

00:25:59,348 –> 00:26:04,750

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: farming and food

production is another one of those foundational

 

405

00:26:05,570 –> 00:26:10,392

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: factors that will

allow us, or if we don’t repair it, will limit

 

406

00:26:10,832 –> 00:26:16,015

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: our industry’s ability

to provide all the things they want, where

 

407

00:26:16,035 –> 00:26:19,876

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: they want them to

be grown for the price that they can afford

 

408

00:26:19,896 –> 00:26:25,027

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to pay. And we already

know we have an economic study that demonstrates

 

409

00:26:25,067 –> 00:26:29,511

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that in addition

to the monetary policies that affect food inflation

 

410

00:26:29,911 –> 00:26:34,934

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: or food prices that

labor, the limitations and the challenges that

 

411

00:26:34,954 –> 00:26:39,617

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: we have getting enough

people on the farm to harvest things that people

 

412

00:26:39,657 –> 00:26:46,162

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: want to eat is a

huge contributor to some of the price increases

 

413

00:26:46,222 –> 00:26:49,244

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and fluctuations

that we’ve seen really accelerate over the

 

414

00:26:49,264 –> 00:26:54,059

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: last few years. We

know that’s the case. We know that part of

 

415

00:26:54,079 –> 00:26:58,741

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that relates to immigration

policy. We know that in that conversation relates

 

416

00:26:58,761 –> 00:27:02,203

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to border security.

We believe there are options, there are ways

 

417

00:27:02,263 –> 00:27:06,146

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of modifying and

modernizing the current way we bring people

 

418

00:27:06,166 –> 00:27:09,407

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: who are willing,

able to come from another country, who want

 

419

00:27:09,427 –> 00:27:11,989

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to be here, who want

to work, who want to follow the guidelines,

 

420

00:27:12,409 –> 00:27:14,931

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: and the people here

who want to hire them and treat them well.

 

421

00:27:15,311 –> 00:27:17,992

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: We believe we can

make those changes and that actually helps.

 

422

00:27:18,293 –> 00:27:22,436

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: contribute to securing

the border because you know you have a way

 

423

00:27:22,476 –> 00:27:24,858

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of knowing what’s

happening and where people are and who they

 

424

00:27:24,918 –> 00:27:33,365

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: are and we are constantly

putting pressure and holding Congress to as

 

425

00:27:33,405 –> 00:27:37,469

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: much of account as

they are willing on that issue and it’s not

 

426

00:27:37,829 –> 00:27:42,153

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you Agriculture really

has felt it longer and more dramatically and

 

427

00:27:42,193 –> 00:27:48,858

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: it is and it is increasing

in that critical need But now you’re starting

 

428

00:27:48,878 –> 00:27:53,604

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to see and feel that

challenge across the larger economy is that

 

429

00:27:53,624 –> 00:27:59,850

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: we just, our economy

is changing and there are huge labor gaps and

 

430

00:27:59,891 –> 00:28:04,636

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: needs. And that is

driving limited resources and raising rising

 

431

00:28:04,676 –> 00:28:08,840

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: prices. And we are

pushing Congress real hard to fix it.

 

432

00:28:11,069 –> 00:28:16,992

[Lori Taylor]: Good, thank you. So Molly, we

mentioned in our introductory remarks that

 

433

00:28:17,032 –> 00:28:20,755

[Lori Taylor]: Farm Bill is every five years,

there’s a reauthorization of Farm Bill. Help

 

434

00:28:20,775 –> 00:28:26,679

[Lori Taylor]: people understand what that means.

And so even two term presidents, they do one

 

435

00:28:26,719 –> 00:28:31,462

[Lori Taylor]: Farm Bill. Anything you wanna

share about that. I know you’ve been in DC,

 

436

00:28:31,562 –> 00:28:37,025

[Lori Taylor]: the better part of your professional

life. So. you know, anything that you’d like

 

437

00:28:37,065 –> 00:28:40,868

[Lori Taylor]: to help folks understand about

this. And do we even run on time with this?

 

438

00:28:40,888 –> 00:28:46,092

[Lori Taylor]: Like what happens if it’s not

ready to go when it expires? Do we just, so.

 

439

00:28:48,233 –> 00:28:48,433

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah,

 

440

00:28:48,433 –> 00:28:48,637

[Lori Taylor]: Help

 

441

00:28:48,473 –> 00:28:48,693

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: well, we

 

442

00:28:48,677 –> 00:28:48,799

[Lori Taylor]: us

 

443

00:28:48,713 –> 00:28:48,993

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: could have

 

444

00:28:48,860 –> 00:28:49,796

[Lori Taylor]: understand more on that.

 

445

00:28:49,934 –> 00:28:54,757

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a whole episode on

how tiny new extensions work, but yeah, I mean,

 

446

00:28:54,817 –> 00:28:54,938

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: it’s a,

 

447

00:28:55,233 –> 00:28:55,480

[Lori Taylor]: I’m sorry.

 

448

00:28:55,918 –> 00:29:01,583

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: they are usually

delayed a little bit, but they always pass

 

449

00:29:01,623 –> 00:29:07,507

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: eventually because

they’re so important to literally every congressional

 

450

00:29:07,547 –> 00:29:12,591

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: district. So we will

see it pass whether or not on time remains

 

451

00:29:12,831 –> 00:29:19,096

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to be seen, but.

it heavily impacts the way people, certainly

 

452

00:29:19,136 –> 00:29:23,320

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: the way people are

farming and the way people are consuming and

 

453

00:29:23,360 –> 00:29:27,543

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: what they’re consuming.

And particularly, we’re coming up on a year

 

454

00:29:27,603 –> 00:29:31,807

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: from the White House

Conference of Nutrition and Health. So this

 

455

00:29:31,847 –> 00:29:35,830

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is a really integral

time because the goals of that national strategy,

 

456

00:29:35,890 –> 00:29:40,234

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: which aim to end

hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030,

 

457

00:29:40,995 –> 00:29:44,847

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you’re not gonna

be able to achieve. that goal. If we don’t

 

458

00:29:44,947 –> 00:29:51,395

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: have a farm bill

that prioritizes dietary quality, access and

 

459

00:29:51,415 –> 00:29:54,739

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: consumption of fruits

and vegetables for all Americans. So we often

 

460

00:29:54,759 –> 00:29:57,663

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: focus on low income

people and we need to do that because those

 

461

00:29:57,723 –> 00:30:00,727

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: are the folks who

are under resourced. But this is really about

 

462

00:30:00,787 –> 00:30:01,588

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: all Americans.

 

463

00:30:04,729 –> 00:30:09,410

[Lori Taylor]: love that. All right, so as we

transition to our closing remarks and wrapping

 

464

00:30:09,450 –> 00:30:13,631

[Lori Taylor]: up today’s episode, this was

certainly a, you know, just kind of like a

 

465

00:30:13,771 –> 00:30:19,033

[Lori Taylor]: surface level overview of what’s

happening with FarmBo. But I want to thank

 

466

00:30:19,053 –> 00:30:22,414

[Lori Taylor]: you both. I mean, I learned a

lot. I’ve got a whole page of notes here that

 

467

00:30:22,434 –> 00:30:23,194

[Lori Taylor]: I’m going to carry with

 

468

00:30:23,137 –> 00:30:23,326

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Thank

 

469

00:30:23,234 –> 00:30:23,334

[Lori Taylor]: me.

 

470

00:30:23,347 –> 00:30:23,410

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you.

 

471

00:30:23,434 –> 00:30:27,995

[Lori Taylor]: I am coming to DC, so I’ll see

you both in just a couple weeks. So IFPA is

 

472

00:30:28,055 –> 00:30:33,557

[Lori Taylor]: hosting their members for what

we call a March on Washington. that allows

 

473

00:30:33,637 –> 00:30:39,978

[Lori Taylor]: us to join women like Molly,

Rebecca, all of their other colleagues at IFPA

 

474

00:30:39,998 –> 00:30:44,820

[Lori Taylor]: whose full-time jobs are to meet

with members of Congress and their staff and

 

475

00:30:44,880 –> 00:30:51,261

[Lori Taylor]: support are the specialty crops

industry’s top priorities on Capitol Hill.

 

476

00:30:51,361 –> 00:30:56,343

[Lori Taylor]: So we’re gonna, essentially kind

of, it’s kind of like, I don’t know, kind of

 

477

00:30:56,363 –> 00:30:59,684

[Lori Taylor]: like take your children to work

day, I assume, when we all come in, but,

 

478

00:31:00,397 –> 00:31:01,979

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: They’re super smart

and they have great

 

479

00:31:01,784 –> 00:31:02,024

[Lori Taylor]: but it

 

480

00:31:02,039 –> 00:31:02,480

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: sports.

 

481

00:31:02,084 –> 00:31:02,704

[Lori Taylor]: is a lot of

 

482

00:31:03,281 –> 00:31:04,082

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: So yeah.

 

483

00:31:04,465 –> 00:31:11,067

[Lori Taylor]: Yes, it’s a lot of fun. We all

appreciate it. So that event’s coming up and

 

484

00:31:11,527 –> 00:31:14,488

[Lori Taylor]: You know anything else though

that you’d like I like our audience know like

 

485

00:31:14,568 –> 00:31:19,249

[Lori Taylor]: what is what? What’s the grant

like what’s the constituent level call to action

 

486

00:31:19,369 –> 00:31:23,691

[Lori Taylor]: as farm bills come, you know

coming down the pike? Whatever whatever closing

 

487

00:31:23,731 –> 00:31:26,952

[Lori Taylor]: remarks you’d like Molly will

start with you and then Rebecca will have you

 

488

00:31:26,992 –> 00:31:29,052

[Lori Taylor]: close out today’s show But Molly

go ahead

 

489

00:31:29,929 –> 00:31:34,871

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah, I would just

say, I know it can be intimidating, but finding

 

490

00:31:34,911 –> 00:31:37,852

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: ways to engage, we

have a grassroots site. It’s not too light

 

491

00:31:37,872 –> 00:31:40,733

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to come to Washington

Conference. We would love to have you here.

 

492

00:31:40,793 –> 00:31:46,776

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: It’s a fun time.

And it really is so important because we are

 

493

00:31:46,876 –> 00:31:52,958

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in this amazing industry

that I truly think is better than any other

 

494

00:31:53,038 –> 00:31:57,440

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: industry because

everything we produce is good for people. And…

 

495

00:31:58,805 –> 00:32:03,226

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: You won’t find a

single policymaker, whether they’re on super

 

496

00:32:03,266 –> 00:32:07,827

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: far left or super

far right, that won’t say eating fruits and

 

497

00:32:07,867 –> 00:32:12,148

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: vegetables is important.

But for all the reasons we just mentioned,

 

498

00:32:12,508 –> 00:32:16,309

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: in reality, we’re

investing 5% of the farm bill into fruits and

 

499

00:32:16,349 –> 00:32:21,131

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: vegetables. And the

only way we’re going to make change is if they

 

500

00:32:21,191 –> 00:32:24,872

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: hear from people

on the ground and people in the industry that

 

501

00:32:24,912 –> 00:32:32,382

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: are saying enough

is enough. start to invest in improving consumption

 

502

00:32:32,422 –> 00:32:35,783

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of fruits and vegetables

in this country or we don’t. And we are the

 

503

00:32:35,803 –> 00:32:39,304

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: people who can get

it done and we represent the entire supply

 

504

00:32:39,344 –> 00:32:44,645

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: chain. So we really

need to hear voices from industry. Everybody’s

 

505

00:32:44,665 –> 00:32:49,807

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: an eater if you’re

not in the industry, you eat. So, you know,

 

506

00:32:50,167 –> 00:32:53,948

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: being engaged is

just so critically important and we have plenty

 

507

00:32:53,988 –> 00:32:56,108

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: of resources to do

that.

 

508

00:32:58,417 –> 00:33:01,877

[Lori Taylor]: That’s great. We’ll link those

in the show notes. I want to remind everyone,

 

509

00:33:02,238 –> 00:33:06,339

[Lori Taylor]: if you’re tuning into this and

you yourself are a produce mom, produce dad,

 

510

00:33:07,519 –> 00:33:11,220

[Lori Taylor]: a lot of what Molly’s working

on has a direct effect to our children. When

 

511

00:33:11,240 –> 00:33:16,561

[Lori Taylor]: you think about programming like

FFVP or SNAP, like that’s all household centric.

 

512

00:33:16,621 –> 00:33:21,823

[Lori Taylor]: That’s not, you know, what feel,

you know, the farm labor work that, you know,

 

513

00:33:21,843 –> 00:33:24,844

[Lori Taylor]: Rebecca was talking about, that

can kind of feel far away, disconnected from

 

514

00:33:24,884 –> 00:33:30,181

[Lori Taylor]: the household level. But there

is plenty that that the team at IFPA is working

 

515

00:33:30,241 –> 00:33:35,563

[Lori Taylor]: on right now that has a direct

effect on our day-to-day lives. So thanks,

 

516

00:33:35,623 –> 00:33:39,064

[Lori Taylor]: Molly, for mentioning the grassroots

site. We’ll do a better job of making that

 

517

00:33:39,104 –> 00:33:43,805

[Lori Taylor]: accessible to all of our community

here at the Produce Moms. And thanks again

 

518

00:33:43,845 –> 00:33:43,985

[Lori Taylor]: for

 

519

00:33:43,867 –> 00:33:43,928

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you

 

520

00:33:44,005 –> 00:33:46,546

[Lori Taylor]: all your hard work. I’m gonna

see you soon in DC.

 

521

00:33:46,790 –> 00:33:46,891

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Yeah.

 

522

00:33:47,106 –> 00:33:54,088

[Lori Taylor]: And I’m hoping I’m on your team,

the lobbying teams. So it’ll be good to see

 

523

00:33:54,108 –> 00:33:58,749

[Lori Taylor]: you. Rebecca. Thank you so much

for being here. It’s been a pleasure to meet

 

524

00:33:58,769 –> 00:34:03,711

[Lori Taylor]: you and welcome you to our show.

And I know that you’re, as the VP of US Government

 

525

00:34:03,832 –> 00:34:08,233

[Lori Taylor]: Relations at the International

Fresh Produce Association, I know that you

 

526

00:34:08,373 –> 00:34:15,476

[Lori Taylor]: are the in-house, you know, chief

of staff, essentially, when it comes to all

 

527

00:34:15,516 –> 00:34:20,498

[Lori Taylor]: things related to Farm Bill.

I, John Holley on the, who has been on this

 

528

00:34:20,518 –> 00:34:23,960

[Lori Taylor]: show before, he was like, nope,

I’m not the right person to be on a Farm Bill

 

529

00:34:23,980 –> 00:34:29,887

[Lori Taylor]: discussion. Rebecca Spearheads,

all of that. for IFPA. So Rebecca, it was great

 

530

00:34:29,967 –> 00:34:33,049

[Lori Taylor]: to learn from you today in the

episode and to welcome you to the show. So

 

531

00:34:33,250 –> 00:34:37,012

[Lori Taylor]: your turn for closing remarks

and signing us off from the broadcast today.

 

532

00:34:37,870 –> 00:34:40,351

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Well, thank you so

much for being here and also for being the

 

533

00:34:40,391 –> 00:34:44,854

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: voice for linking,

you know, the produce industry to the consumer,

 

534

00:34:45,334 –> 00:34:49,136

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: because that’s fundamentally

the reason we’re here. Yes, we’re here to help

 

535

00:34:49,156 –> 00:34:53,379

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: the produce industry

prosper in the U.S., but the reason we want

 

536

00:34:53,399 –> 00:34:56,281

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: them to prosper is

because of what they make for the American

 

537

00:34:56,321 –> 00:34:59,743

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: consumer. And the

American consumer said, you know, they really

 

538

00:34:59,763 –> 00:35:03,625

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: would like to have

a lot of their products grown here. They really

 

539

00:35:03,645 –> 00:35:06,746

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: would like to have

them grown maybe closer to home when you can,

 

540

00:35:06,866 –> 00:35:11,148

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you know, when that

can happen. And they really need and want them,

 

541

00:35:11,228 –> 00:35:13,969

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: whether they’re in

a federal program or whether they’re, you know,

 

542

00:35:14,009 –> 00:35:16,150

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: like, like me, and

they go to the grocery store and buy them,

 

543

00:35:16,770 –> 00:35:22,193

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: um, in order to provide

those fruits and veggies for, um, the most

 

544

00:35:22,273 –> 00:35:25,654

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: reasonable and affordable

price to get that choice, to get that robust

 

545

00:35:25,934 –> 00:35:30,056

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: half the plate, um,

you know, price matters, affordability access

 

546

00:35:30,096 –> 00:35:33,430

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: matters. And the

farm policy that we talk about in the farm

 

547

00:35:33,450 –> 00:35:37,092

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: bill is where that

all originates. And so, you know, whether you’re

 

548

00:35:37,112 –> 00:35:41,655

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a producer, whether

you’re, um, uh, you know, an advocate or whether

 

549

00:35:41,675 –> 00:35:46,297

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you’re a consumer,

you have a right to have a say in what the

 

550

00:35:46,337 –> 00:35:49,759

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: farm and food policy

of the United States is. And you have a right

 

551

00:35:49,799 –> 00:35:54,001

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: to say, I would like

those resources. I would like the focus. I

 

552

00:35:54,021 –> 00:35:58,064

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: would like a proportional

share of the resources that my tax dollars

 

553

00:35:58,104 –> 00:36:03,268

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: go to on helping

to support the industry that provides me with

 

554

00:36:03,288 –> 00:36:06,831

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: those options, then

helping support the industry to succeed, to

 

555

00:36:06,851 –> 00:36:10,895

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: provide me those

things that are foundational to our food security.

 

556

00:36:12,016 –> 00:36:14,618

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: And those are not,

that’s not an unreasonable ask. And you don’t

 

557

00:36:14,678 –> 00:36:17,761

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: have to know what

all the recommendations are to communicate

 

558

00:36:17,801 –> 00:36:21,144

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: that to your member

of Congress or Senator to say, it matters to

 

559

00:36:21,184 –> 00:36:25,308

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: me, you know, how

we, how we treat the industry that is, that

 

560

00:36:25,348 –> 00:36:26,248

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: is feeding my family.

 

561

00:36:28,905 –> 00:36:30,567

[Lori Taylor]: I love that. All right, well,

 

562

00:36:30,825 –> 00:36:31,151

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Thank

 

563

00:36:31,027 –> 00:36:31,188

[Lori Taylor]: what

 

564

00:36:31,191 –> 00:36:31,272

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you.

 

565

00:36:31,228 –> 00:36:32,950

[Lori Taylor]: an amazing show this has been.

 

566

00:36:36,054 –> 00:36:38,678

[Lori Taylor]: I’m gonna study those closing

remarks and use

 

567

00:36:38,669 –> 00:36:38,916

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Thank

 

568

00:36:38,738 –> 00:36:39,039

[Lori Taylor]: that

 

569

00:36:38,937 –> 00:36:39,019

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: you.

 

570

00:36:39,059 –> 00:36:39,900

[Lori Taylor]: when I’m on the Hill.

 

571

00:36:43,081 –> 00:36:43,401

[Lori Taylor]: I learned

 

572

00:36:43,449 –> 00:36:43,589

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: make

 

573

00:36:43,461 –> 00:36:43,621

[Lori Taylor]: so

 

574

00:36:43,629 –> 00:36:43,689

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: it

 

575

00:36:43,661 –> 00:36:44,001

[Lori Taylor]: much.

 

576

00:36:43,729 –> 00:36:44,191

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: more than

 

577

00:36:44,181 –> 00:36:44,241

[Lori Taylor]: I

 

578

00:36:44,211 –> 00:36:44,251

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a

 

579

00:36:44,261 –> 00:36:44,481

[Lori Taylor]: really

 

580

00:36:44,291 –> 00:36:44,531

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: half

 

581

00:36:44,522 –> 00:36:44,782

[Lori Taylor]: did.

 

582

00:36:44,612 –> 00:36:44,972

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: a day.

 

583

00:36:44,982 –> 00:36:49,965

[Lori Taylor]: And yes, I know I learned so

much though. Today’s episode was great. I’m

 

584

00:36:49,985 –> 00:36:54,548

[Lori Taylor]: glad we did this and great timing.

You know, we’ve thrown around end of September

 

585

00:36:54,589 –> 00:36:57,130

[Lori Taylor]: is when it, you know, things.

Expire,

 

586

00:36:57,037 –> 00:36:57,241

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Thanks.

 

587

00:36:57,210 –> 00:37:02,054

[Lori Taylor]: right? Is, did I hear that correctly?

So, um, we’re in what you would call the final

 

588

00:37:02,114 –> 00:37:07,437

[Lori Taylor]: stretch. We can see the finish

line and we are charging ahead. So good time

 

589

00:37:07,477 –> 00:37:11,480

[Lori Taylor]: for the, for all the members

of IFPA to come together and storm the hill.

 

590

00:37:12,289 –> 00:37:16,332

[Lori Taylor]: Um, I look forward to seeing

my produce industry colleagues in DC and, you

 

591

00:37:16,352 –> 00:37:22,296

[Lori Taylor]: know, just matter of a week or

1. And I cannot thank Rebecca, Molly, everyone

 

592

00:37:22,316 –> 00:37:27,499

[Lori Taylor]: at the IFPA for the great work

you do every single day. Like I say at the

 

593

00:37:27,519 –> 00:37:30,702

[Lori Taylor]: close of every show folks, like,

well, I don’t know if I even say this at the

 

594

00:37:30,722 –> 00:37:34,824

[Lori Taylor]: close of every show, but you

know, we do appreciate your ratings, your reviews,

 

595

00:37:35,065 –> 00:37:40,588

[Lori Taylor]: sharing the show. But if you

don’t rate, review, subscribe, all that stuff.

 

596

00:37:41,265 –> 00:37:45,951

[Lori Taylor]: I’m still going to come back

next week with an amazing guest. So tune in.

 

597

00:37:46,732 –> 00:37:49,716

[Lori Taylor]: This has been another good episode.

We appreciate everyone’s support of the produce

 

598

00:37:49,736 –> 00:37:58,209

[Lori Taylor]: moms and let’s all get more fruits

and vegetables on every table. Take care. All

 

599

00:37:58,230 –> 00:38:00,467

[Lori Taylor]: right, don’t hang up. We gotta

get all.

 

600

00:38:00,425 –> 00:38:00,654

[Rebeckah Freeman Adcock]: Okay.

 

How to get involved

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