Give a Fork These Midterms – Remember to Vote with your Plate

For the most part, I try to stay away from political commentary. You can get a daily dose of partisan profanity on Twitter, Fox and CNN. Every day a new scandal soars –another outrage makes our heads shake.

What we don’t hear much about is the state of our plate. As we enter the voting booths these midterm elections, it’s time we take a look at how our current elected officials value good food and agriculture.  

As we sift through measure A or M and ponder the next bond resolution, there are other questions to ask.

Who grows our food? Who harvests and prepares our food? How are they faring? How much healthy topsoil do we have left? What’s in the water we drink? Who is going hungry in this great-again country? Do we really know what we are eating?

These issues are not at the forefront of our political mindset, but they should be. In my mind, there is nothing more important than the food we grow and how we feed ourselves. Are we nurturing future generations with our food and agriculture policies?

Before you walk into that booth or fill out your mail-in ballot, take a moment to visit Food Policy Action (FPA)

These fine folks have assembled a scorecard to help you understand where your current Congressional leaders stand. You can view their voting history and individual track record to find out whether they voted for good food policy, or whether they supported policies that are harmful to hungry people, contaminate our food supply, poison our soil and water, or hurt local economies.

FPA tracks issues such as feeding people, ensuring healthy soil and clean water, promoting transparency in our food, supporting small family farms and most importantly, where they stand on passing the Farm Bill.

Simply go to An Eater’s Guide to Congress and type in your zip code. Your Representatives’ scorecards await you.

Use this guide then consider what’s at stake. Strap on your voting might and get out and vote!

First and foremost, make sure you are registered to vote! Then find out where to vote on election day, or how you can vote by mail.

If you can’t drive and are in an urban area, Uber and Lyft are offering free rides to the polls on Election Day.

This is a critical election year, perhaps the most important in recent times. With so much at stake this November, please remember to vote with your fork and consider the state of our plate.

I believe that healthy food is a right and should not be a privilege. We can ensure this by voting in the right officials and voting out the bad food actors.

Vote as if your life depends on it because it does!

I voted. Did you?