Diane Pineiro-Zucker reports in the Daily Freeman that the activist group Scenic Hudson held a press conference with Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican, and Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat, Sept. 7 at Stone Ridge Orchard in Ulster County, in support of the Farm Bill. That Congressional legislation is reintroduced and adopted every five years, including this one. Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters said, “This is an opportunity we get every five years to make sure we’re supporting healthy food for all people, we’re uplifting rural communities and economies and securing good water quality … and addressing those challenges posed by climate change." Molinaro, who represents the 19th Congressional District, said, “We are in the midst of one of the most important American policies in our lifetime. … We’re facing, farmers know this first-hand, some significant challenges.” Ryan, who represents the 18th Congressional District, explained how difficult it will be to get the Farm Bill passed. “It’s going to require, on a personal level, folks like Marc and I coming together and saying, ‘How do we get this over the line.’ It’s a five-seat margin in a divided government. It’s going to take those personal connections to bring the seriousness we need to get this over the line.” Much of the Farm Bill is about helping poor people get enough nutrition. Molinaro complained that some states are “really good at processing payments and less good at empowering independence.” Ryan, on the other hand, said, the Farm Bill “is the bill in which we decide who goes hungry in the country and who doesn’t. And that is a point of significant debate” between Democrats and Republicans. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.