Rep. Alvarez: Future of farming depends on motivating young people in ‘world of Instagram’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Rep. Danny Alvarez, R-Riverview, discussed the importance of protecting Florida agriculture in a “world of Instagram” by motivating young people to get into farming.

On Florida’s Voice with Brendon Leslie, Alvarez discussed his bill, HB 1071, which passed through one of its three committee assignments so far and is part of an agriculture package that lawmakers are working on.

Alvarez said that agriculture is not only important in Florida, but across the country.

“[If] we don’t protect our resources, then we’ll be dependent on others,” he said.

“And that could include our enemies,” Alvarez said. “And we never want to be in a position where we depend on our enemies for our food supply.”

Alvarez explained that protecting agriculture as an industry and “space of security and special importance is important.”

He said ways of protecting the industry are by making sure lands stay rural and motivating the youth to get into farming.

“In this world where everything is quick and fast, farming is none of those things, right?” Alvarez said. “So we have a generation that’s coming up, that may not want to pick up the plow or drive the tractor, so we’re trying to figure out ways how to motivate them, how to incentivize them, and then once they’re there, keep them in the field so that they’re producing food and not turning that field into a development.”

The representative said on top of banning lab-grown meat in Florida, his new legislation includes many other provisions aimed at helping agriculture.

“Last year, we ran a package and it touched a lot of different areas that needed touching up, or cleaning, or some administrative support, and that’s what this year we’re doing,” Alvarez said.

Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, is the sponsor of the identical bill in the Senate, SB 1084, which passed through one of its three committee assignments so far.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference recently that he opposes the promulgation of lab-grown meat in Florida.

Discussing his opposition to implanting an environmental agenda on farmers, the governor noted that lawmakers are working through legislation to ban lab-grown meat production.

“You need meat. OK?” DeSantis said. “We’re gonna have meat in Florida.”

Alvarez said it’s “very encouraging” that the governor highlighted this, along with other lawmaker’s legislations regarding cultivated meat.

“It’s always encouraging to know that we have the governor’s support in advance, especially on an issue that seems to be drawing a lot of attention,” Alvarez said. “And maybe that’s a good thing, but to have his support means a lot to me.”

Alvarez said the cultivated meat provision of the bill is important.

“We’re making sure that we’re not using Floridians as a testbed when it comes to their bodies,” Alvarez said. “We’ve seen the federal government fail time and time again when it comes to their recommendations and when it comes to things that they say are safe.”

The representative said that Florida has 15,000 producers of “good quality, safe Florida beef” and “plenty of protein” to rely on for the near future.

“We’re going to rely on that Instead of unproven stuff without a safety record that we can rely on,” he said. “We’re putting Floridians first.”

Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, is the sponsor for HB 435, regarding banning lab-grown meat. The legislation has so far passed one subcommittee in the House and has two more to go.

Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, is the sponsor for SB 586, which also cracks down on lab-grown meat. That bill has not been taken up by any of its committee assignments yet.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson has been working with lawmakers to cracking down on lab-grown meat, along with farmer tax breaks and other measures.

Alvarez said Simpson is “a champion of agriculture.”

“I cannot express to you how important and awe-inspiring it is to have him at the helm for agriculture,” he said. “There is nobody on the Hill that advocates for AG greater and stronger than Wilton Simpson because he lives it, he is it every single day, and he knows exactly what they’re going through.”

Other provisions that Alvarez said stand out in his bill include managing saw palmetto berries to creating trespassing laws, which he said “needed tightening up.”

“We’re doing everything else in between,” Alvarez said. “Little twitches here and there to make sure that farmers get what they need to keep them in the field, and make sure they’re still producing food, which we all believe is a national and state security issue. Vital importance to the state of Florida.”

He said that farmers have “gone voiceless for too long” and lawmakers are “not going to allow it.”

“The level of importance of them, and of their families to the state of Florida is vital,” Alvarez said. “We need them, we got to keep them in the field. And now we’re actually showing that. We’re putting our money where our mouth is.”