LEGISLATIVE LINE

Barry Scher is a government and retail consultant with Policy Solutions LLC. He is a 42-year veteran of Giant/Landover, where he held several key positions, including Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs. He can be reached at [email protected].

It is that time of the year when we celebrate the holidays but also a good time to look toward next year as 2024 looms on the horizon. And what a year it is going to be, make no mistake, as it will be an election year. That means fewer workdays on Capitol Hill because of extended election-year breaks for members of Congress. Then get ready for a huge influx of print and electronic political ads that will bombard you.

The House is slated to have only 28 workweeks in Washington in 2024, with the first break or district work period coming the week of January 22. That is potentially just after the government funding deadline on or around January 19 but plans could still go astray. The Senate, at presstime, had not released its 2024 schedule but it generally follows the House schedule. There will be a scheduled two-week break at the end of February, commencing with Presidents Day. Easter Sunday falls on March 31, with Passover is several weeks later. So, the legislative calendar calls for a two-week state work period around Easter and another one just two weeks after House members return to the Capitol. Then the House will also be out of session for the parties’ political conventions mid-July (Republicans) and mid-August (Democrats). The House is then scheduled to take a break for election season in late September. Finally, the post-election lame duck session falls on November 12. It is going to be a busy year indeed as lawmakers cram legislative issues in with the election process!

Congressional Agenda
Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Congress sent a stopgap spending bill to the president and thus averted a government shutdown. The stopgap spending bill, often referred to as a “continuing resolution,” funds part of the government until mid-January (primarily veterans’ benefit issues, housing, transportation, agriculture, and energy and water programs) and the rest of many programs (which includes the defense department and other remaining programs) within the annual appropriations process through early February. The stopgap spending bill, however, did not include spending cuts or any major policy changes, which is what the new House Freedom Caucus wanted.

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For us food industry folks, among the items on the Congressional calendar are two critically important agriculture bills: the Farm Bill and the Agriculture-Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appropriations bill.

Farm Bill Extension
Congress recently extended the 2018 Farm Bill (the bill is reauthorized every five years) through September 2024 as part of the stopgap measure mentioned above. The extension keeps several key programs operating. So, Congress gave itself an additional ten months to enact a new Farm Bill. Immediately after the ten-month extension went through, the top leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture committees issued a joint press release and said, “As negotiations on funding the government progress, we were able to come together to avoid a lapse in funding for critical agricultural programs and provide certainty to producers. This extension is in no way a substitute for passing a five-year Farm Bill and we remain committed to working together to get it done next year.”

Still, we at Policy Solutions say that there are still rough seas ahead for the Farm Bill. The reasoning is that Republican hard liners are still mind set to push for major spending cuts to rein in Farm Bill spending especially on the many anti-hunger programs and nutritional programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women Children and Infant Program (WIC) which make up the bulk of the entire Farm Bill spending. Stay tuned!

Plant Based Products Face More Scrutiny
When plant-based products were first introduced, those of us in the food industry knew they would face tough scrutiny from Congress, USDA, consumer organizations, and the meat and poultry industry. But such scrutiny is almost axiomatic within our food industry when new technology is brought to market. Yet for the past several years real beef and poultry products have co-existed with alt-products in the meat and poultry cases in food stores. But that has not stopped those opposed to plant-based products from giving up the ship.

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) has reintroduced a bill called the Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully (MEAT) Act that would require products containing plant-based proteins to clearly display the word “imitation” on the packaging. According to Fischer’s press release that crossed my desk, the Real MEAT Act would define the term “beef” as deriving from the flesh of cattle and “beef product” as edible products produced entirely or partially from beef. The term “pork” would be defined similarly.

The legislation also defines “meat,” “meat food product,” “meat byproducts” and “meat broker” based on definitions in the current code of federal regulations, according to Fischer’s press release.

As I have previously reported, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) responded to two petitions filed in 2018 and 2020 about the labeling of alt-meat products – from the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association and the Animal Law & Policy Program of the Harvard Law School, respectively – but in doing so, FSIS did not significantly resolve the issues raised in those petitions, according to a recent story in Meatingplace News. So, the proponents and opponents continue to battle one another.

Aside from the reintroduction of Fischer’s bill, in related news, the state of Florida has introduced a bill in their general assembly that would ban the sale and distribution of cultivated meat products. Italy has also passed a law banning the production and marketing of cultivated meat and the use of meat related terms on plant-based alt-meat product packaging within their country.

More Access To Healthy Foods
USDA has just announced an investment of more than $52 million to improve dietary health and access to fresh fruits and vegetables for eligible families. The funds will go toward bringing together stakeholders from various parts of the food and health care systems to improve the health and nutritional status of participating households, facilitate growth in underrepresented communities, and aggregate data to identify and improve best practices on a broad scale. Bottom line: more benefits will get into the hands of the needy and retail food store sales will increase. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

WIC Is Vital But Underutilized
Retail food stores are integral partners with federal and state government programs such as SNAP and WIC that help get food voucher funds and thus more healthy foods channeled to low-income families and individuals. Yet, some of these government programs are underutilized by potential beneficiaries. WIC, for example, is vital to the health and well-being of half of our nation’s babies, along with millions of young children up to age 5 and their mothers. Recent research based on 2021 data published by USDA shows more than six million of those who are eligible for the program are missing out on its proven health benefits. The just released study reports that an average of 12.13 million moms, babies, and young children were eligible for WIC in 2021. However, only 50 percent, or 6.21 million, of those who were eligible participated. One way that food retailers can help communicate the WIC message to shoppers is to publicize the program. Sounds simple enough! USDA can provide retailers with strong support to help you communicate benefits of the WIC program, and SNAP too, to potential users. Contact USDA at the special website www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.

Medical Nutrition Therapy Act Introduced
Many large food retailers employ registered dietitian nutritionists to help consumers purchase healthier foods and to advise consumers about such programs as SNAP and WIC. To add more flexibility to the jobs of these in-store experts, several House and Senate Republicans and Democrats have recently introduced the bipartisan Medical Nutrition Therapy Act which would increase access to counseling by registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) for Medicare beneficiaries to help prevent, delay and manage chronic disease and diet-related medical conditions.

FMI – the Food Industry Association, applauded the bill’s introduction, saying, “Food retailers are uniquely positioned to provide nutrition counseling services to customers in the same location that they purchase their groceries and medications, making the grocery store a destination for health and well-being. Counseling provided by RDNs as part of a health care team ensures the best possible nutrition-related health outcomes and can positively impact weight, blood pressure, blood lipids and blood sugar control.”

A Reminder
Registration is now officially open for the 100th Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum that I previously wrote about. This annual landmark conference, titled “Cultivating the Future,” will be held in person at the Crystal City Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA. on February 15-16, 2024. The Outlook Forum is attended by thousands of food industry and government representatives and offers insight into the future of the food and agricultural industry. For more information, go to www.usdaoutlookforum.

Finally, I wish all my readers a healthy and happy New Year!

Barry Scher is associated with the public policy firm of Policy Solutions LLC and can be reached at [email protected]