Read an article about the Catholic bishops of the United States urging their followers to lobby for a bill that does not cut support for the needy. They have published parish bulletin inserts and prayer cards “to help you pray and advocate for a 2012 Farm Bill that addresses domestic and global hunger and malnutrition.”

The National Catholic Rural Life Conference is based in Iowa and applies Christian teaching to agriculture and food issues. The conference supports farm bill provisions that would “feed the hungry, preserve God’s creation, support small family farmers, and help rural America thrive.” It also supports creation care as part of its mission to protect rural life in America.

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national nonprofit agency working against hunger in the United States and abroad. Its president and CEO is Abby J. Leibman. Media contact is Liza Lieberman.

The Jewish Working Group for a Just Farm Bill includes representatives from American Jewish World Service, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, Hazon, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and the Union for Reform Judaism. Several spoke on Capitol Hill earlier this year about the bill.

The Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs connects faith-based and faith-affiliated groups that are working to end poverty in the U.S. The group aims to focus attention during the farm bill debate on shielding from budget cuts those federal programs that help the hungry.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which issued a statement April 12, 2012, decrying the House Agriculture Committee’s vote to cut $33 billion from food stamps. “If there’s a more misguided, mean-spirited and counterproductive way to address decades of deficits in this country, the Mayors of the United States can’t think of one,” […]

The House Agriculture Committee is responsible for reauthorizing the Farm Bill. It is chaired by Rep. Frank D. Lucas.

Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., is the House Agriculture Committee’s ranking minority member.

Rep. Frank D. Lucas, R-Okla., chairs the House Agriculture Committee.