Matt Funicello for Congress
We met Matt last Saturday and listened to his platform for the 21st district in New York. We were both impressed. He needed no note, and no teleprompter. If you live in the 21st district please give Matt a chance. The old game of going from one spelling of the party to another has shown to be futile. Give Matt a chance, for we do need change, and with Matt as your representative in DC you will have someone that gives you hope.
Green Party candidate Funiciello champions small-scale farms, single-payer healthcare
CANTON — Matthew J. Funiciello, Green Party candidate running in the race to replace U.S. Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, in New York’s 21st Congressional District, visited LittleGrasse Foodworks, 309 Miner St., Canton, on Friday to talk to growers about health insurance, minimum wage and his plans to help small-scale growers in the north country.
Mr. Funiciello answered questions from approximately 15 local farmers on the sprawling 22-acre farm along the Grasse River co-owned by Robert J. Washo and Maria L Filippi.
LittleGrasse Foodworks, a local community shared agriculture (CSA) project, feeds about 150 Canton-area residents who invest in the farm from the beginning of the growing season and the food is divided equally among the shareholders.
“(Mr. Funiciello) is a strong supporter of small-scale farms and it is great that the conversation is expanding to get people to talk about farming,” Mr. Washo said.
Mr. Funcicello said he would support local and organic farms like LittleGrasse Foodworks by cutting subsidies to big agribusiness and rebuilding publicly-owned regional infrastructure to support local farming.
“I would like to see more emphasis on the small-to-medium size farmers that are actually growing food to people as opposed to the subsidies that go to commoditized agriculture like corn and soy,” Mr. Washo said. “We need to reevaluate the whole subsidy program. There is nothing that addresses the risk that small-scale growers take but there is a lot of financial emphasis placed on the commoditized system and there is more to it than that.”
With the ever-increasing popularity of CSAs in St. Lawrence County, Ms. Filipi said more needs to be done to protect and support small-scale farmers.
“We’re living in a large-scale commodity agricultural mindset. It would be nice to see a government acknowledge local growers,” Ms. Filippi said. “Any time a candidate is willing to come and answer questions and make clear what issues are important to them is valuable.”
Mr. Funiciello said the best way to support farmers and service workers is to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
“It is very simple,” Mr. Funiciello said. “Why we are not paying people a living wage to work in the U.S.? Why is a worker being paid $8, $7.25 or $10 an hour? Democrats are doing what they normally do and telling us that $10.10 an hour is what they are going to work for,” Mr. Funiciello said. “What a strange coincidence. If I multiply $10 by 40 you’ve just elevated the lower parts of the working class in the service industry to where they can’t get subsidized housing or food stamps anymore.”
Mr. Funiciello also said he supports single-family health care and providing Medicare for all would improve health care and the health of U.S. residents.
“The Canadian (system) is so much better than anything you can experience down here,” Mr. Funiciello said. “Is it perfect? Of course it’s not. But let’s just look at source documentation and results. Canadians spend half of what we do on healthcare. They live three years longer than we do. I think preventative care has something to do with it. Their pharmaceuticals are far cheaper even though their insurance doesn’t cover them.”
A single-payer health care system would save taxpayer money and build a healthier country, Mr. Funiciello said.
“You’re looking at 60 cents (per $1) being spent on health care in this country — that’s public money,” he said. “Canadians are paying half of what we do for health care, and they have universal health care. Everyone is covered. So for 10 cents less we could have free universal health care that’s better for us.”
He said if elected to Congress he would not accept its health care package and would continue his policy until the country moves to a single-payer health insurance option.
Mr. Funiciello also challenged fellow candidates, Democrat Aaron Woolf and Republican Elise Stefanik, to do the same.
“I’d like to enlist them to take up that challenge as well as to work on single family healthcare,
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