ACTION ALERT: Make Your Voice Heard on U.S. Farm & Food Policy Dec. 12

When: Tuesday, December 12
Sign-in and coffee 6:45 – 7:00 P.M. Meeting 7:00 – 8:30 P.M.

Where: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2730 East 31st Street, Minneapolis, MN.

Directions: Holy Trinity Church (612-729-8358) is in Minneapolis on 31st Street, east of Minnehaha Ave., between 27th Ave. and 28th Ave. The meeting will be held in the Library Room on the second floor. Parking is available on street and in the Church’s parking lot in the alley.

Who: People concerned about a more sustainable, healthy, and just food and agriculture system. Come yourself, and bring a friend.

Come learn, give your input, and take action at the Land Stewardship Project’s meeting on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, at 7:00 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis.

Our food and agriculture system is broken! Farmers are often locked into unsustainable farming practices by federal and/or corporate policies, practices that result in massive erosion and environmental degradation. Much of our food is shipped thousands of miles when we can grow it here, and access to healthy locally grown food as well as opportunities for new farmers are made difficult in part because of limited infrastructure and bad U.S. farm policy. Hunger and malnutrition around the world afflict innumerable communities. Meanwhile, the ownership of the land and decisions affecting the food security of people are falling into the hands of fewer and fewer hands.

Yet there is hope for change. The federal Farm Bill, which sets U.S. farm policy, is being re-drafted in 2007. The recent election has changed the dynamics of Congress including the leadership of the Agriculture Committees. Come 2007, it’s almost certain that Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN) will be the chair of the House Agriculture Committee and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) will be the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. That means that we here in the Midwest have the opportunity and the responsibility to push for real change in U.S. farm policy.

The 2007 Farm Bill will determine how billions of dollars in funding for such things as food and nutrition support, conservation programs, commodity crop subsidy programs, and rural development will be allocated. Right now, U.S. farm policy massively subsidizes overproduction of a few intensive row crops, resulting in environmental degradation in the U.S., low crop prices for impoverished farmers around the world, and taxpayer-subsidized “cheap” grain that is purchased well below the cost of production by huge livestock factory farms.

During the meeting we will have a report from an LSP member who participated in a November 27-30 Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment fly-in to Washington D.C. and met with Congressional offices about needed reforms. Our meeting will take an “education to action” approach – identifying what the impacts of current federal farm policy are, discussing reforms that are being proposed by LSP and others, and actions that citizens can take to help advocate for those reforms.

In Minnesota, we have a unique opportunity to have significant influence on what the next Farm Bill looks like. As we’ve already mentioned, U.S. Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN) from western Minnesota will be the chair of the House Agriculture Committee and right now both Senator elect Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) are expected serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee. These committees do the majority of work on the Farm Bill and Minnesota has strong representation.

In addition LSP has been organizing. Over the past two years LSP has held six grassroots organizing meetings with members, surveyed over 800 farmers, talked with more than 6,000 Minnesotans, and met with key allies and members of Congress to get input and feedback. With your help, we are poised to make a difference.

1. Enacting a New Farm Initiative that:

helps beginning, new immigrant and other limited-resource farmers get started on the land and provides effective incentives for new farmers to implement excellent stewardship practices on their farms
assists communities that want their schools to provide healthy, locally grown food to their students
supports direct marketing opportunities for farmers and the development of more community-based food systems

2. Expanding the innovative Conservation Security Program, a nationwide program passed in 2002 that was first proposed by LSP’s Federal Farm Policy Committee in order to support effective conservation on working farmland and more sustainable crop rotations and land uses.

3. Creating a more just commodity crop program, that supports fairer prices for farmers and stops subsidizing huge livestock factory farms.

Because of huge federal expenditures elsewhere, like the war in Iraq and the major tax breaks that have been enacted, less money is available now than was when the 2002 Farm Bill was drafted. We need a smarter, fairer and more efficient Farm Bill that protects the environment as it supports a healthy food system and family farms here and around the world.

Come to the meeting and learn what we can do together. We hope to see you there. For more information, contact the LSP Policy and Organizing Office at 612-722-6377.