Re: Farm Bill legislation must be balanced, fair, and ensure equitable distribution of resources AND contain both nutrition and farm programming support. July 2013 Dear Congressional Delegation from San Diego region, The attack on working americans in the current Congressional “debate” around the Farm Bill is unacceptable. The Farm Bill must include both food and farm programs. We condemn the political ploy that would separate the people’s nutritional food programs from the corporate-favored farm subsidy part of the Farm Bill as cynical class warfare. We have read the reports proving that US crop subsidies hurt small farmers and economic independence in less affluent countries. The Food Justice Committee of Women Occupy San Diego stands by the Rural Coalition and other advocates of small and local farmers in demanding the Farm Bill encompass all aspects of our national food system, and balance the entrenched interests of big Farma industry with our nutritional needs and food security. To separate nutrition and equitable food distribution from farming is nonsensical - the two are intertwined. As a policy decision, it is disastrous. The political maneuvering to separate “food” from “farm” casts serious doubts about our Congressional leaders’ ability to understand the nature of our agricultural system and to make good decisions in the interests of "we the people". Of course, the correct focus of the Farm Bill must be on health- the health of the people, the health of our national food system, and the health of our environment that supports both. It is incomprehensible that Congress continues to support and subsidize programs that have been shown to hurt both our health and the environment. It is reprehensible that Congress continues to provide our tax dollars to monolithic industries, stifling essential competition that would keep our food system robust. We are outraged by Congressional intentions to unfairly apportion huge amounts of tax dollars to bloated financial conglomerates while penalizing small farmers and entrepeneurs. The final Farm Bill must ensure fairly and balanced distribution so that all stakeholders receive their rightful due. The current form continues to ignore the rights of the chronically underserved of our country: rural communities, socially disadvantaged farmers and producers, children, Indian tribes, urban communities, farm and food workers…basically, anyone who isn’t a member of the established agri-business monopoly. It also undermines consumers’ right to choose, to have access to a variety of goods, as it continues to protect large producers and monoculture. You have removed equity from the American diet. It must be restored. We demand that the Farm Bill: · Include both farm and food programs. · Ensure full funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). · Continue to support Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers · Fund Beginning Farmer Development · Invest in Rural Development and Specialty Crops · Provide incentives for Organic Production Best Practices · Enhance environmental protection and habitat rehabilitation · Add Urban Agriculture as a permanent programmatic sector. All of the above are essential for a robust, diversified national food production system that equally supports all stakeholders while strengthening our system’s ability to respond to natural or human-induced disasters. Shame on the political maneuvering to delete essential nutrition programs for people living on the edge. Congressional mismanagement of the nation’s food system is a major contributor to the shameful fact that over 2 million people in the San Diego region go hungry at some point during the week. We demand that SNAP levels are reinstated to previous levels without interruption. And our food insecurity will worsen if Congress doesn’t act to support urban agriculture. The San Diego area is losing farms at an increasing pace, due to water limitations and inadequate support of smaller farming enterprises. However, our area is home to an active urban agricultural movement that intends to leverage sustainable practices to produce food locally. Essential proposals such as Senator’s Casey’s Beginning Farms Microloans bill would provide the necessary financial start-up to improve the region’s growing capacity. Conversely, work with your Congressional colleagues to ensure equity in all agricultural programs. DO NOT support large-scale farming practices where essential foods are treated as commodities to be traded and sometimes even bet against in the market. Why do the largest crop producers have access to low crop insurance while smaller farmers have much higher premiums? What are our nation’s priorities that we would cut off access to food while ramping up government expenditures on military spending? We say NO to such a dysfunctional, inequitable society that has little relation to the common vision of a just and strong nation. We demand fairness, balance, equity and choice in our food system. As our San Diego representative, you must too. submitted by Anne Barron on behalf of Food Justice Committee. Women Occupy San Diego womenoccupysandiego.org
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:44:54 +0000