Tri-State Area farmers, restaurants concerned about Congress renewing Farm Bill by September deadline
Legislation that impacts multiple parts of the agriculture industry is in jeopardy in Congress.
The Farm Bill would provide funding to help center soil health, provide crop insurance and protect the food supply chain. It's renewed every five years, and the deadline is September for Congress to approve it for the next cycle.
Changing weather has already impacted the "farm to table" process in the Tri-State Area, according to farmers and restaurants CBS News New York's Lisa Rozner spoke with.
"I just wanted to cry"
Fifth-generation farmer Ron Binaghi Jr., of Stokes Farm in Old Tappan, New Jersey, says it's been a bumpy year due to the changing weather.
Binaghi says last fall's drought and unusually warm temperatures caused him to lose part of his pepper and eggplant crops.
"It was in the 90s, the temperatures. Crops stop growing and they get stressed," Binaghi said. "Think of your own body when it's 90 everyday."
He says the need for water grew exponentially and so did his water bill.
"Add that onto all the other expenses that came our way, especially labor, that just, ugh. I just wanted to cry. It was tough," Binaghi said.
During April, Binaghi has new crops including garlic and strawberries.
The ones that are more sensitive, he keeps in greenhouses where he can control the temperature inside. He says he has about 65 different items grown inside one greenhouse with recycled water, and it takes half the time it would take outside. In less than a month, Binaghi says a seed can grow into lettuce, for example.
The 152-year-old farm needs to be innovative as it faces unpredictable weather like farmers across the country.
The Farm Bill would fund core programs addressing crop insurance, conservation and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, for food insecure families.
"[SNAP is] probably a good 50 percent of my sales," said Ken Milgiorelli, third-generation owner of Migliorelli Farms in Red Hook, New York, in Dutchess County.
He added, "Hopefully staffing doesn't get cut back before they pass the Farm Bill."
Chefs sound alarm about restaurant survival
Most items at Stokes and Migliorelli wind up at restaurants like Point Seven near Grand Central Station and Cathedrale on the Lower East Side.
Chef Jason Hall of Cathedrale buys asparagus from Migliorelli for a special side dish. Chef-owner Franklin Becker of Point Seven says he relies on Stokes for his popular bibb lettuce salad.
"It's very hard to make profits with prices going up and shortage of supplies caused by global warming," Becker said. "Because we don't understand global warming, we're getting a lot of recalls. At the end of the day, food is medicine."
Chef JJ Johnson says he has been sounding the alarm about the economic crisis on Capitol Hill for more than a year, as part of the James Beard Foundation's "Climate Solutions for Restaurant Survival" campaign.
"Water as a whole is becoming an issue here in the United States, and that impacts rice farming," said Johnson, who is chef and founder of the rice bowl shop "FIELDTRIP," which has locations in Harlem, Morningside Heights and Rockefeller Center.
He joined a coalition of culinary leaders through the James Beard Foundation in a letter to Congress asking that under the Farm Bill, lawmakers preserve $20 billion in climate and soil health funding.
The letter says agriculture and related industries account for more than 10% of total U.S. employment. It says they contribute significantly to the nation's GDP, adding up to $1.4 trillion.
"When you're thinking about rice, you're thinking about Arkansas, you're thinking about Mississippi," Johnson said. "Think about upstate New York, there's less rain, right?"
Back in Old Tappan, Binaghi admits every day is a challenge, but he does it for the passion not the monetary payoff.
The Farm Bill would provide long-term stability to help weather whatever storm comes in the next five years.
CBS News New York reached out multiple times to Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania who sponsors the Farm Bill for comment. No one got back to us.
