See Your Legislator's Voting Record on Food

Does your Congressional Representative get a passing grade?
Just in time for the November 6 election, a new organization called Food Policy Action has released a food policy scorecard for every House member and senator. Each was given a grade, from zero to 100, based on 32 floor votes — 18 in the Senate, 14 in the House — that Congress has taken over the past two years. Their track records reflect votes taken on a range of food-related policy decisions including farm subsidies, animal welfare, genetically modified foods, school lunch programs, and food assistance.

Congressional scorecards are nothing new. Members of Congress are graded on their conservative bona fides by the American Conservative Union, the marijuana reform lobby gives Smoke the Vote ratings, and the NRA scores them on their gun love. Scorecards work as crib sheets for voters, but the public scrutiny can also elevate an issue’s profile in Congress and even impact votes.

The average food policy score for Senate lawmakers was 58 percent, while the average score in the House was 57 percent. There were plenty of high scores from both parties, although of the 50 members of Congress who received a perfect score of 100 percent, 49 of them were Democrats, and the single-digit ratings all went to Republicans.

See how your legislators scored.
The Food Policy Action Scorecard  lets you search, sort, and rank by zip code, politician, party affiliation, and scores.