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Farm Bill Reform Food Sovereignty Tour 2007 April 24 - May 8 A poor person's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away. Proverbs 13:23
Last year at a Farm Bill hearing at the Fair Grounds in Louisville, KY presided over by US Secretary of Agriculture and champion of free trade Mike Johanns, one of the people who lined up for their two-minute input said: "If it ain’t broke, don't fix it. We like the farm bill just as it is now. I am a family farmer too." We later learned that this individual owned thousands of acres, hires dozens of farm workers, relied on heavy use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides and in all respects faithfully followed the industrial model of get big or get out. He was an example of one of the 10% of U.S. farmers who actually make a profit; yes, that means that 90% of U.S. farmers make no profit from farming!!
US Farm Policy is broke alright, and it not only needs fixing, it needs radical surgery. That is the consensus of farmers, farm workers, people of faith, and your everyday eaters of all stripes, all impacted in surprising ways by the brokenness of the current system: whether because of the risk of lethal bacteria in our fresh produce or meats, or a plague of corn syrup obesity from oversized sodas and fatty food, or because we must work long hours in a tomato field, sugarcane plantation or a slaughterhouse whose line has been sped up dangerously. And that was the message of Agricultural Missions 2007 Farm Bill Reform & Food Sovereignty Tour from April 26-May 10th, 2007 in Kentucky, Ohio and Missouri.
At a series of events in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, in Oberlin and Cleveland, Ohio and in St. Louis, Missouri, our tour speakers presented compelling analysis and testimonies from the perspectives of the social movements and organizations they represent (people of the land all), from US small farmer Adam Barr of the Community Farm Alliance/ National Family Farm Coalition, to First Peoples Mapuche communicator (originally from lands claimed by Chile, now residing in Ecuador) Jaime Mariqueo, to Pedro Christofolli of the MST in Brazil, not to mention the tour coordinator/ chauffeur/ interpreter, AMI staff and urban agriculturalist Stephen Bartlett.
The platform for change proposed is modest but aims at the deeper structural changes needed in the long term: a floor price for commodities that reflects the costs of production (no more freely falling market prices for commodities), a grain reserve (not such a novel idea), a cap on maximum income for which subsidies can apply, and with all the money thus saved, more funding for the conservation program, more funding for rural development, the opening of an office of farm worker affairs and some teeth to bring transparency, monitoring and record-keeping on the use of toxic chemicals. Demystify the ethanol juggernaut for what it is becoming: a program that will strengthen consolidation of transnational corporations, expand deforestation and industrial farming everywhere, and intensify abuse and exploitation of marginalized sugarcane workers. And did we mention that under the logic of free markets and the high demand for more energy for automobiles, we will be feeding automobiles with fuel produced on our best lands, while depriving the landless and income-poor of the ability to feed themselves?
We saw the fruits of vision and dedication in the urban agricultural organizations we visited in Ohio and Missouri. Community building upon the ruins of urban decay and white flight in St. Louis, with the New Roots Farming Collective. Urban farmers creating the basis for sustainable communities so impoverished that even crime went elsewhere. Breaking down the barriers of countryside to inner city with a spectacular display of delicious foods grown with competence and love and shared in a spirit of collective generosity and abundance!
In Oberlin we visited the new people of the land working in intentional community on a farm developed by the New Agrarian Center. The farm supplies student-run food cooperatives on the campus of Oberlin and others. A new truck that runs on used vegetable oil is scheduled to bring food directly from farms in several rural counties to urban distribution centers run by local people concerned about access to healthful foods. The co-director of this organization, Brad Masi, admitted to getting into agriculture after reading a book by Wendell Berry.
The new world we dream of is coming into being as we speak!! True food sovereignty! US Farm Policy will in the long run have to bend to the reality of that new economy being forged by people with calloused hands, bicycles to ride, and laptops in their knapsacks! Viva the People of the Land!! Viva the Youth putting their Ideals into Practice!! Viva the seeds for a New Agricultural Policy. And stay tuned!! We are preparing the ground now for the 2012 Farm Bill! And we will fight the good fight for the 2007 Farm Bill and make hay while the sun does shine!! ■ |
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