Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. He did not support the farm bill that came out of that committee.

Howard Leathers is an associate professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and specializes in agricultural policy.

Barry L. Denk directs the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, which is a bicameral legislative assembly within Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. It develops rural policy.

Garrett Martin directs the Maine Center for Economic Policy, which in 2007 called for increases in the food stamp program.

Bruce Mallory is interim director of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, Durham. The institute’s research includes poverty, rural families and communities, and the environment.

Hugh Joseph is a research associate at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Boston, and is project developer of the school’s New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.

John E. Carroll is a professor of environmental conservation at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, and his interests include spiritual and religious attitudes toward ecology. His books include, as author, Sustainability and Spirituality. 

Kelly D. Brownell is a psychology professor at Yale University, where he directs the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.

See a March 7, 2012, item from the Catholic Relief Services Newswire about U.S. Catholic bishops and other leaders in the church urging support for a farm bill that helps the needy, is fair to farmers and ranchers and promotes good land stewardship.