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Faith groups advocate Farm Bill reforms
Mary Minette of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America describes an aspect of the farm bill to Roxanne Barillas of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops at a workshop sponsored by the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
Photo: K. McNeely/CWS
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Church World Service is working with faith communities and congregations across the country to call on Congress to reform the Farm Bill.
The Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill (RWG), in which CWS joins the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, National Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Oxfam America and Bread for the World believes that 2007 represents a critical moment in U.S. agricultural policy.
The group meets weekly to develop a statement of legislative principles for farm bill reform and to share faith based perspectives on Farm Bill reform with key congressional decision-makers.
The RWG supports a farm bill that strengthens investment in communities in rural America; ensures all Americans an adequate and nutritious diet; provides better and more targeted support for U.S. farm families of modest means; and conserves the land for present and future generations.
The group is also urging Congress to address the negative impact current U.S. agricultural and trade policies have on people living in impoverished countries around the world.
Though members of the RWG are in agreement that Farm Bill reform is necessary there are a number of opinions on the concrete changes that are needed. Members of the group are trying to develop some common ground on specific changes sought.
The Farm Bill has far reaching impacts. It governs food and agricultural policy in the United States including federal farm supports, food stamps, agricultural trade, marketing, conservation, rural development and international emergency food aid.
While the Farm Bill primarily governs national law, the sheer quantity of agricultural goods from the United States to other parts of the world has a ripple affect on especially impoverished countries which tend to have a high concentration of their population involved in agricultural production.
In most cases, governments of resource poor countries have cut subsidies and extension programs for their rural farmers following loan conditions or policy proscriptions by multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. When it comes to the US international trade agenda, these same countries are often asked to eliminate all trade tariffs and quotas, the only protections they have left for their farmers. This is especially true of recent trade agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the signed-but-not-ratified US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.
In October last year, CWS launched the Sow Justice campaign focused on reforming the 2007 US Farm Bill. The campaign recognizes that God demands good stewardship of resources and farming practices that ensure the care for the most vulnerable, many of whom live in resource-poor countries around the world. The CWS resource Sowing Justice for Family Farmers Everywhere has been used as a guide in communities of faith across the United States to deepen knowledge and understanding of farm bill reform.
Sowing Justice looks specifically at the farm bill's commodity policy and states that "reform is necessary to restore right relationships, preserve responsible communities, shrink economic inequalities, and allow for all of creation to flourish in its diversity – to restore God’s gracious economy."
CWS believes that reforms, in conjunction with recognizing the right of governments in developing countries to protect their own agricultural markets, will help farmers and rural life around the world.
Church World Service is especially concerned about recent unprecedented levels of market consolidation in agriculture which make competition unfair and leads to greater poverty in the U.S. and in the developing world. Production controlled by a limited number of corporate interests eliminates market transparency and creates an environment ripe for price manipulation and discrimination. It creates an atmosphere where supply and demand are controlled by the same actors. To remedy this problem, CWS recommends that stronger competition policies with reliable enforcement mechanisms are included in the 2007 Farm Bill.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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