Principles for a Faithful Farm Bill
From God’s initial command to care for creation to the prophets’ call for justice among governments and nations, people of faith in every age are called together to work for the common good. Inspired by our faith traditions’ commands to care for poor and vulnerable people, we join together to support policies that promote local food security in the U.S. and around the world, strengthen rural communities, and care for the land as God’s creation.
Our nation’s food and farm policies as embodied in the Farm Bill impact people and communities from rural America to developing countries. In the current budget climate, the Farm Bill’s limited resources must be effectively targeted where need is greatest. Programs and policies that curb hunger and malnutrition, support vibrant agricultural economies in rural communities, and promote the sustainable use of natural resources must be prioritized.
Together, we will urge Congress to take the opportunity presented by the reauthorization of the Farm Bill to reduce hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world and encourage sustainable stewardship of our resources. To this end, we support the following principles for the 2012 Farm Bill:
· Protect and strengthen programs that reduce hunger and improve nutrition in the United States.
· Promote investments and policies that strengthen rural communities and combat rural poverty.
· Provide a fair and effective farmer safety net that allows farmers in the U.S. and around the world to earn economically sustainable livelihoods.
· Strengthen policies and programs that promote conservation and protect creation from environmental degradation.
· Protect the dignity, health, and safety, of those responsible for working the land.
· Promote research related to alternative, clean, and renewable forms of energy that do not negatively impact food prices or the environment.
· Safeguard and improve international food aid in ways that encourage local food security and improve the nutritional quality of food aid.
Signed by:
American Jewish World Service
Bread for the World
Catholic Relief Services
Church of the Brethren
Church World Service
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
Disciples Home Missions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Churches Poverty Initiative
NETWORK
The Office of Social Justice of the Christian Reformed Church
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries
Union for Reform Judaism
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
This starts with great broad generalizations, but then falls short in 2 ways.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the part about a "farm safety net" may be a problem, even though it's qualified here. "Safety net" almost always refers to subsidies to compensate farmers, such as when the US chooses to dump farm products. If the US didn't choose to dump (lose money on exports to secretly provide below cost farm commodity crops to US & global AgBiz buyers), then there would be no need for a "safety net." Dumping (or also exporting above zero (break even) but below "fair trade," "living wage" farm prices,) never meets the qualifying criteria of "allows farmers in the U.S. and around the world to earn economically sustainable livelihoods." In short, this language about a "safety net" is the spin used to win bad farm bills, and shouldn't be used.
Second, the energy principle states that the farm bill should "not negatively impact food prices." Surely you mean by this that raising food prices is negative, as that makes it harder for the poor to buy food. Unfortunately that's a relative (floating?) standard, not one based upon an adequate standards of justice. Lower is not always better. It's not just for consumers to be subsidized by farmers through cheap farm prices. The data shows that, since 1953, US farmers have had the value of their corn and soybean sales lowered by more than $2 trillion, (below the parity standard), and that was below zero most of the time 1981-2006 (even worse for other commodity crops). Farmers got back about $220 billion in subsidies (all figures adjusted for inflation, 2010 $). Since 1953 this has increasingly put pressure on farmers in poor, "Least Developed Countries" and elsewhere. Recent higher prices have not reached up to parity, (which is a standard especially needed by LDCs). Farmers have massively subsidized consumers (ie. $2 trillion, corn and soy). Higher, not lower prices (compared to the historical record) are required for justice for the US, LDCs and others, through price floor and supply management policies such as the Food from Family Farms Act (National Family Farm Coalition). Recent higher prices, caused in part by increasing corn and soybeans to ethanol and biodiesel, have helped end dumping. That's justice. (But could push prices too high in the future if competing oil continues to rise). NFFC's bill also calls for price ceilings and reserve supplies to prevent prices from going too high. Right now dairy prices are in severe crisis and SB 1640 addresses that (NFFC).
It's false to assume that we have a food shortage & high farm price crisis. What we have had prior to recent price rises was a severe crisis of food oversupply and low prices. This should be called a "Food Poverty Crisis." LDCs are 70% rural. The "undernourished" are 80% rural. Underweight children in sub Saharan Africa are 75% farm kids. They all need higher farm prices for their rural economies, to stimulate wealth and jobs creation. They're hungry because of a history of increasing farm poverty, which creates poverty throughout their (rural) regions.
Finally, all of this damage created a severe dilemma. Their poverty is so severe that they ALSO suffer from when farm prices begin to become more just. You address that small part, it seems, and not the much bigger underlying reality. Search for (both together) "Farm Bill Primer" AND "Food Crisis Primer" for documentation.