wfn.org | Farmer Speaks at United Nations

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (189
notes).

Note 187 by UMNS on June 30, 1997 at 16:27 Eastern (6958 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                        375(10-21-24-71B){187}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    June 30, 1997

New model of agriculture needed,
United Methodist farmer tells U.N.

     UNITED NATIONS (UMNS) -- A new model of agriculture --
recognizing the environment and natural resources "as the
foundation of economic activity" -- is needed to stop the
worldwide decline in farming.
     That was the message Denise O'Brien, an Iowa farmer and a
United Methodist, brought June 26 to the United Nations General
Assembly.
     O'Brien spoke shortly before President Clinton during "Earth
Summit +5," a special session of the assembly to review the
implementation of Agenda 21, the document created five years ago
at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
     Speaking on behalf of farmers, she noted that the
industrialization of agriculture, along with the debt crisis of
U.S. farmers in the 1980s, has left few opportunities for growth.
"The basis for food production on small- and medium-sized farms is
eroding as is the rural society that food producers have
sustained," she declared.
     Her own family has been forced to give up farming as its sole
source of income. O'Brien's husband now works full-time elsewhere,
while she grows strawberries, raspberries, apples and asparagus
and raises chickens and turkeys by herself. The crops are aimed at
local consumption and she adheres to strict organic practices.
     "In my 21 years of farming, I have always fought the
political battle of small- and medium-sized producers," she told
the assembly. "During that time I have had small farmers from
around the world visit my farm and I have visited small and medium
producers in other countries."
     When these farmers met at the Earth Summit in Rio, their "NGO
(nongovernmental organization) Sustainable Agriculture Treaty"
urged a break with the "dominant predatory model of agriculture"
in favor of "new patterns of sustainability," placing control back
"in the hands of the people who work the land."
     The farmers noted that "agriculture is sustainable when it is
ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, culturally
appropriate and based on a holistic scientific approach."
     O'Brien spoke of her experiences around the 1996 U.N. World
Food Summit in Rome, where a group of rural women wrote a
statement calling for the promotion of sustainable agriculture,
equal access and empowerment for women, rurally appropriate
support systems, and the right of indigenous people to their
ancestral land.
     "The industrial model of agriculture has caused social,
economic and environmental devastation in our rural areas," she
said. "Many farmers are questioning the sustainability of a model
that uses high inputs of fertilizer and chemicals and water."
     She pointed to government initiatives in Europe that are
supporting farmers making the transition to more ecologically
sound production methods.
     "Farmers who work the land must have the right to practice
sustainable management of natural resources and to preserve
biological diversity," O'Brien said.
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                        375(10-21-24-71B){187}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    June 30, 1997

New model of agriculture needed,
United Methodist farmer tells U.N.

     UNITED NATIONS (UMNS) -- A new model of agriculture --
recognizing the environment and natural resources "as the
foundation of economic activity" -- is needed to stop the
worldwide decline in farming.
     That was the message Denise O'Brien, an Iowa farmer and a
United Methodist, brought June 26 to the United Nations General
Assembly.
     O'Brien spoke shortly before President Clinton during "Earth
Summit +5," a special session of the assembly to review the
implementation of Agenda 21, the document created five years ago
at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
     Speaking on behalf of farmers, she noted that the
industrialization of agriculture, along with the debt crisis of
U.S. farmers in the 1980s, has left few opportunities for growth.
"The basis for food production on small- and medium-sized farms is
eroding as is the rural society that food producers have
sustained," she declared.
     Her own family has been forced to give up farming as its sole
source of income. O'Brien's husband now works full-time elsewhere,
while she grows strawberries, raspberries, apples and asparagus
and raises chickens and turkeys by herself. The crops are aimed at
local consumption and she adheres to strict organic practices.
     "In my 21 years of farming, I have always fought the
political battle of small- and medium-sized producers," she told
the assembly. "During that time I have had small farmers from
around the world visit my farm and I have visited small and medium
producers in other countries."
     When these farmers met at the Earth Summit in Rio, their "NGO
(nongovernmental organization) Sustainable Agriculture Treaty"
urged a break with the "dominant predatory model of agriculture"
in favor of "new patterns of sustainability," placing control back
"in the hands of the people who work the land."
     The farmers noted that "agriculture is sustainable when it is
ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, culturally
appropriate and based on a holistic scientific approach."
     O'Brien spoke of her experiences around the 1996 U.N. World
Food Summit in Rome, where a group of rural women wrote a
statement calling for the promotion of sustainable agriculture,
equal access and empowerment for women, rurally appropriate
support systems, and the right of indigenous people to their
ancestral land.
     "The industrial model of agriculture has caused social,
economic and environmental devastation in our rural areas," she
said. "Many farmers are questioning the sustainability of a model
that uses high inputs of fertilizer and chemicals and water."
     She pointed to government initiatives in Europe that are
supporting farmers making the transition to more ecologically
sound production methods.
     "Farmers who work the land must have the right to practice
sustainable management of natural resources and to preserve
biological diversity," O'Brien said.
     But all efforts will be in vain, she declared, if
transnational corporations do not adopt such principles. "None of
us are going to witness or participate in a sustainable world as
long as transnationals are not held accountable for their
unsustainable use of the world's resources," she said.
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