Growers and Grocers

Michael Pollan spoke about the U.S. Farm Bill as he promoted his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. He urged Americans to talk to their representatives about their stance on the Farm Bill, which is due for renewal in 2007. “It should be called the Food Bill,” he said. The Farm Bill sets the policy that controls American agriculture and farmers’ livelihoods, but everyone should know what’s happening with this important issue. Certainly you shouldn’t fall asleep, as Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana) did in a Farm Bill hearing.

Agriculture talks broke down at the World Trade Organization meeting in late July. Stalls, hiccups, and cancellations are normal in these meetings, but this interruption forces Congress to draft a farm policy without clear knowledge of the global market issues that American farmers will face. The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation believes that Senators and Representatives will push for an extension to the 2002 Farm Bill until they have a better idea about the marketplace.

This would be fine with the National Farmers Union, which seems to have decided to push for renewal, despite the concerns raised at the Listening Sessions they’ve been holding to get feedback from their members. Each summary seems to end with the quote: “Once again, we heard a strong preference for extending the 2002 Farm Bill for a year or two until the economic, political and international trade climates change and allow Congress to write a good piece of legislation.” Never mind that each summary starts with the changes that farmers would like to see. (Illinois’s summary, Ohio’s, and California’s).

Competition is high on the list of concerns. Farmers want stricter enforcement of anti-trust rules and they want support for funding direct producer-to-consumer opportunities. Even cattle ranchers want price assistance from the government in the face of a global market that no longer wants American beef. Cattle ranchers have never asked for this help before.

Disaster relief comes up often in the NFU sessions. Heavy rains and searing skies destroyed crops with an almost malicious fury this year, and farmers don’t want to rely on the capricious federal disaster relief programs.

Finally, urge your representatives to push for Farm Bill support for sustainable practices. That initiative will probably show up the most in the non-farm press, as farmers seek rewards for keeping the earth healthy. Right now, the agricultural system subsidizes farmers who damage the environment with monocultures, pesticides, and nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Those who want to use more environmentally sound practices can’t compete with federally funded polluters.

It looks likely that the 2002 Farm Bill will get an extension, but the Center for Rural America opposes a simple renewal, because the current Farm Bill helps big farms the most and small farms the least. Big farms diminish the population of an area because they require fewer workers, sending rural communities into a tailspin.