wfn.org | United Methodists Join in Rally for Rural America

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 21, 2000  News media contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)
742-5470*Nashville, Tenn. 10-21-24-71B{159}

by Erik Alsgaard*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- "Rural America cannot be left behind" was the message
delivered to congress and the Clinton administration March 20- 21 as more
than 1,500 farmer, ranchers and rural citizens gathered here to "Rally for
Rural America."

United Methodist clergy and laity from across the country were joined in the
rally by the Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, staff executive of the
denomination's Board of Church and Society.  The board was one of more than
40 organizations that sponsored the rally.

"Farmers are the backbone of this nation," said Leland Thompson, a
sixth-generation farmer from Millville, Mich., and a member of the Millville
United Methodist Church. He traveled to Washington to tell congress that
farmers are hurting. "We have very low farm prices right now; in fact, we're
at a 20-year low," he said.  "Couple that with high fuel and energy prices,
and we're hurting."

That sentiment was echoed by Ray Clark, member of First United Methodist
Church in Pontiac, Ill. Clark, and his son Brent farm 1,000 acres of grain.
"We've got very low grain prices right now," he said. "The federal
government has promised a lot of things in the Freedom to Farm Act, but they
haven't followed through." Clark is semi-retired and gets helps to make ends
meet with his son's job as a trucker. "Brent only works on the farm four
weeks in the spring and four weeks at harvest," he said. "Last year, he made
$40,000 driving a truck, and lost $10,000 helping on the farm."

Selling land is another way farmers try to stay afloat. Robert Clemens farms
1,200 acres near Wagner, S.D., and is a member of the Wagner United
Methodist Church. "We have 160 acres up for sale right now," he said. Priced
at around $600 per acre, he hopes it will keep his farm going for another
year. 

Clemens came to Washington to see what the government can do to make things
better. He also mentioned the low prices farmers receive for their produce
and the high cost of fuel. "We see farmers with heavy debt, and that leads
to all kinds of problems - spousal abuse, kids getting in trouble...
something has got to be done. Towns are losing businesses, and many
businesses in rural America are in trouble. I also know farmers right now
who don't have enough money to pay for gas to get to town to the food pantry
to get food."

Clemens would like to see the government raise target prices for grain and
livestock as a way of supporting the farmer.

 
"Farmers are struggling," said the Rev. Kathryn Morrison, pastor of the
Brunswick and Miami United Methodist Churches in Brunswick, Mo. "Farmers and
members of the communities are of the mind-set, 'we're dying; we can't do
that.' They have nothing to look forward to. The Church struggles with ways
to turn those feelings around and lift up the people, to help them feel that
they are important to God."

As part of the Rally for Rural America, participants hosted a "Farmer's
Share Lunch" March 20 on Capitol Hill that featured an address from
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. The menu for the day included cooked
beef on a bun, baked beans, potato salad, country slaw, milk and a cookie,
for which a typical farmer would receive 39 cents. Organizers said that a
consumer would pay seven dollars for a similar meal at the retail level.

"Rural America has been shut out of our nation's record prosperity," said
Leland Swenson, president of the National Farmers Union. "The Band-Aid
approach to the farm crisis has not worked.  Congress must open the farm
program and make meaningful changes to ensure farmers and ranchers have a
future in agriculture."

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* Alsgaard is Assistant General Secretary for Communication at the General
Board of Church and Society

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United Methodist News Service
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