How Do Your Lawmakers Score on Food Policy?

Food Policy Action's National Food Policy Scorecard allows voters to check lawmakers' voting records on everything from organic farming to SNAP and WIC. Photo: A farmers' market in Washington, D.C. (Mark Fenton)

Election Day is less than a week away—do you know where your members of Congress stand on important food policy issues? Thanks to the National Food Policy Scorecard, you can find out in just a couple of keystrokes. Type in either the name of a lawmaker or your zip code, and you'll get a detailed peek at the voting records of your representatives, on everything from food safety and organic farming to food assistance for hungry and poor people. 

The scorecard looks at 32 floor votes and gives members of the Senate and the House a percentage score, from 0 to 100—and, yes, there are members who got a perfect score, as well as some who received zero scores.

The site, which went live last week, is a project of the new organization Food Policy Action, which aims to highlight the importance of food policy and to promote policies that support a variety of issues, including supporting healthy diets, reducing hunger at home and abroad, improving food access and affordability, and upholding the rights and dignity of food and farm workers.

Bread for the World President David Beckmann sits on FPA's board of directors, along with Oxfam America president Ray Offenheiser and restaurateur/"Top Chef" judge Tom Colicchio, among others.

"Hungry people don't have well-paid lobbyists working to protect the programs they rely on to help lift themselves out of poverty," said Beckmann. "The food policy scorecard will ensure that families who are hungry, as well as those who care about hunger, know who voted for food and farm policies that serve the public interest."

Visit the FPA site to see how your politicians fared.