While everyone excitedly awaits the swearing in of the 116th Congress, there is still work to be done by this “lame duck” session. Every five years, Congress passes legislation called "The Farm Bill" to set national agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy. This Congress still has to come to an agreement on this policy.

Our Guest -- Professor William "Bill" Spriggs

Professor Bill Spriggs is the former Chair of the Department of Economics at Howard University and Chief Economist to the AFL-CIO. In the discussion, Prof. Spriggs gives light to the history of the Farm Bill, its components including agriculture subsidies, conservation policy, food assistance programs and more.

Related Episodes

* Prof. Spriggs along with Dr. Julianne Malveaux previously gave us a great primer on Understanding The Economy
* Since we are thinking about the Farm Bill, SNAP and how we can take action, revisit the “Economic Equity”  episode to hear from those living and doing work around this issue.