CWS says Farm Bill still needs work
Washington, D.C., Nov. 9, 2007--Even as it applauds the Senate Agricultural Committee for positive steps toward reform of the nationâs farm policy, humanitarian agency Church World Service is urging the full Senate to do more to help Americaâs small farmers without making it difficult for small farmers in developing nations to earn income from their own locally grown crops.
âThere were a few positive steps taken toward reform, but much in the way of broad reform was left undone, says CWS Education and Advocacy Director Rajyashri Waghray about the bill, which the full Senate began debating on Monday.
âWe are very pleased that the agriculture committee took steps to promote market opportunities for producers, to protect animal health, and to enact the kind of tougher anti-trust enforcement needed to reverse the trend toward further industrialization of the food system.â
Waghray says the committee also deserves praise for including a provision that mandates more funding for incentive programs that reward farmers for conserving the land and also allows for increased enrollment in other programs offering them incentives for using environmentally sound practices.
To further improve the bill Church World Service is urging the Senate to support the bi-partisan payment limitation amendment offered by Senators Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-IA). The amendment offers tools to close loopholes and caps mega-farm subsidies at $250,000.
Another proposal supported by CWS would allocate $25 million a year for a four-year pilot program to allow for the regional purchase of locally grown produce for food aid. This pilot program, Church World Service concludes, is worth trying since studies have found that emergency food aid produced and packaged in the United States for shipment overseas can be extremely expensive and inefficient, thereby reducing the amount, timeliness, and quality of food provided.
The global humanitarian agency also is asking the Senate to adopt the recommendations of the Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill.
The group is an alliance of U.S. faith groups, including CWS, working to insure that the views of the faith community are reflected in the new legislation. It has called this yearâs debate on the measure âan historic opportunity for the Senate to express our nationâs moral priorities by passing a Farm Bill that reflects a commitment to strong and vibrant farms and rural communities, an adequate and nutritious diet for all people, care for creation and an opportunity for everyone to benefit from the abundance of the land.â
The Religious Working Group recommendations ask the senate to:
â Ensure support for U.S. farmers who need it most by imposing income limits on subsidy payments so that struggling farmers, not wealthy ones, benefit
â Strengthen nutrition, conservation, rural development and food aid programs by using savings from improvements in the farm safety net to bolster food aid programs for poor and hungry people in the U.S. and around the world
â Reduce trade-distorting subsidies that stymie the efforts of families living in developing countries to earn their way out of poverty
The Senate is expected to complete work on the bill this month. The House of Representatives passed its version of the farm bill in July.
As part of its Sow Justice campaign
(http://www.churchworldservice.org/Educ_Advo/farmbill/) in support of Farm Bill reform, Church World Service regularly makes available educational resources and updates and calls citizens to action through its Speak Out alerts.
Media Contacts
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net