Building Support for Farm to School In Congress:
How to Call Your Legislator!
The Farm to School Act of 2015 was introduced in late February 2015 by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) in the Senate and Representatives Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Marcia Fudge (D-OH) in the House. It is known as a “marker bill,” a piece of legislation that is meant to be included in the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act (CNR) this year. Legislators who sign on as cosponsors of marker bills like this one are publicly showing their support for the Farm to School Act (and for farm to school overall!) and can be counted on to help make sure the bill makes it into the final CNR package! Finding cosponsors for the Farm to School Act is very, very important to the success of the bill!
The National Farm to School Network (NFSN) and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) are partnering to advance farm to school priorities in the 2015 reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act (CNR 2015), with the shared goal of supporting stronger communities, healthier children and resilient farms.
Ready to call your Representative to ask for their support of the bill? It’s simple!
Just follow these steps:
- Take a deep breath – and let go of any nerves! Calling your legislator is EASY, and it’s part of these folks’ jobs to take calls from constituents like you. They will be friendly, ready to listen to you, and the call will take a few moments at most. You’re most likely to get a voicemail box, which is even easier.
- Get the contact info. for the person you’re calling ready: Representative Newhouse’s Legislative Assistant Kyle Kunkler: (202) 225-5816
- Think about a brief, personal story you’d like to share with the offices – and how you are connected to farm to school. Have any good data about farm to school in your state? Know of a farmer who has increased their sales because of farm to school? Have you noticed students eating more fresh fruits and veggies in the cafeteria? Legislators want to hear success stories from their districts, so be sure to share something during your call that highlights why farm to school programs are so important to your state!
- Make the call. Use the call script below and include the story you thought of above. You can practice first if you like!
- Follow up. Send a follow up email a day after you call the office, mentioning that you called the office (thank them for chatting with you if you talked with the staffer) and you’d like to request that the Senator/ Representative cosponsor the bill. It can be just a few sentences long. You can include a link to the Farm to School Act one pager: http://sustainableagriculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Farm-to-School-Act-of-2015-one-pager.pdf If you’d like, you could even invite the staffer and your legislator to your farm / school for a tour next time they are home!
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Congressional Office Call Script
Hello, my name is _______. Can I speak to Kyle Kunkler please?
After you are connected to the staffer or – more likely – their voicemail:
Hi. My name is ______ and I [work with [YOUR ORGANIZATION] / am a farmer / if you are a Farm to School grantee, or have another role with farm to school, this is the place to mention that!]. I am calling to request that Representative Newhouse please cosponsor the Farm to School Act of 2015, H.R. 1061.
[If you are going to leave a voicemail, you can continue on below with the script – if you get a staffer on the phone, now’s the time for a question like ‘are you familiar with this bill and farm to school activities in our state/district?’]
The Farm to School Act of 2015 is a bipartisan bill that will increase the benefits of farm to school in our community. It has the potential to improve healthy food choices for children and economic opportunities for farmers in our area. I have personally seen the tremendous impact farm to school programs have on children and farmers. [Describe a brief, personal story about the value and positive impacts of farm to school in your state or district]. I urge you to co-sponsor this forward-looking legislation! Again, the bill number is H.R. 1061. Thank you.
[Optional] If you’d like to discuss my experience with farm to school in [your community], please call me at [your number].
And that’s it – you’re done!
THANK YOU!