Summary: GAO provided information on its Food and Agriculture issue area plan for fiscal years 1997 to 1999.
GAO plans to examine ways to: (1) determine ways to promote the efficient delivery of food and nutrition assistance programs; (2) streamline the Department of Agriculture to improve efficiency in service delivery; reduce waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in agriculture programs; and promote the use of alternative program delivery mechanisms, such as privatizing, contracting, and charging user fees; (3) ensure that programs aimed at transitioning American agriculture from federally subsidized programs to a greater market orientation under the provisions of the 1996 Farm Bill are effectively implemented; (4) ensure the safety of the American food supply, from both domestic and foreign sources; and (5) ensure that federal programs foster a higher quality of life in rural America, efficiently target agricultural research resources to the areas of greatest public need, and respond to the environmental impacts of agricultural production.
