Farmers who produce fruits, nuts and vegetables account for roughly half of all farm sales but get virtually no support from USDA.

For the first time, fruit and vegetable producers producers have sought a relatively small slice of federal farm spending.

These growers — who take their cues from the market, not from the government — are not even looking for a fair share. They are not looking for income subsidies. They just want a small slice of the pie.

The EAT Healthy America Act introduced by Rep. Dennis Cardoza on behalf of fruit and vegetable growers would increase USDA conservation, research, rural development, and marketing programs — initiatives that boost the profitability of all farmers but that do not provide direct subsidies. In particular, the Cardoza bill — which has 118 bipartisan co-sponsors — would expand links between farmers and consumers, take steps to improve food safety, and reward farmers who use their pesticides with greater care.

The “specialty crop” provisions of the EAT Healthy Bill would cost about $1.6 billion a year. But, so far, the House Agriculture Committee has provided just $465 million over five years for initiatives support for fruit and vegetable farmers — and roughly $33 billion in direct subsidies over five years for the producers of corn, soybeans, cotton, rice and other beneficiaries of depression-era subsidies.

That’s not a slice. That’s not even a crumb.

No wonder Rep. Cardoza, quoted in today’s Congress Daily, is angry.

He told reporters that the Chairman’s bill, which also shortchanges, conservation, energy and nutrition spending, “needs substantial work” and could not “sustain a floor vote at this time.” While Cardoza would not support proposals to replace subsidies with risk management accounts, as proposed by Reps. Kind and Flake, he does supports efforts to cut subsidies. “The bill does not need a total overhaul, but it could use a different direction,” Cardoza said, and he warned that reformers will get “traction if we don’t make changes.”

Chairman Peterson has said writing the Farm Bill on the floor would be a “recipe for chaos.” But a Farm Bill that continues to send half of all farm spending to just 20 congressional districts will leave a lot of members of Congress with less than crumbs, including most members from New York, California, and Florida.

Here’s hoping the Chairman works with leadership to cook up a pie that feeds more than a few fat cat farmers in a few states and districts.