H.R. 3433 — Introduced in House

I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3433 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 26, 2017Ms. Kelly of Illinois (for herself and Mr. Bost) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to increase the number of base acres upon which agricultural producers are authorized to grow fruits and vegetables without a resulting reduction in payment acres on their farm when the resulting produce is used to help alleviate a food desert, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Feeding America through Farm Flexibility Act of 2017. 2. Producer discretion to plant additional fruits and vegetables on base acres without a resulting reduction in payment acres Section 1114(e) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9014(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (5) Producer discretion to plant additional fruits and vegetables to alleviate food deserts (A) Additional planting authority; purpose The percentages specified in paragraphs (2) and (3) are increased by an additional five percent of base acres, to 20 percent and 40 percent respectively, if the crops referred to in paragraph (1) grown on the additional base acres are grown solely for sale or donation, directly or indirectly by the producer and with or without processing, in a food desert. (B) Food desert defined In this paragraph, the term food desert means a census tract that, as determined by the Secretary— (i) has a poverty rate of 20 percent or greater; and (ii) provides difficult access to a retail outlet that provides a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. .