U.S.
Farm Bill Resources
Cain
& Abel and the 2007 Farm Bill
Kip Banks, Progressive National Baptist Convention at a November
6, 2007 Washington, DC press conference calling for reform.
Listen
to Kip's testimony (about 5 minutes long)
Scope
of the Farm Bill
The impacts of the Farm Bill extend far beyond U.S. borders.
This legislation affects the prices that farmers receive for
their crops and the ability of families to feed themselves
around the world. The PC(USA) is part of the Religious
Working Group on the Farm Bill and we are active in Building
Sustainable Futures for Farmers Globally Campaign, which
promotes Farm Bill reform supporting the livelihoods of family
farmers and farmworkers and the health of communities in the
US and around the world.
The
following selection of Farm Bill links and resources will
provide you with background, policy proposals, perspectives,
and ways to get involved in this critical legislation.
Articles
Farm
Bill Reauthorization:
Imagining a Sustainable Living Bill
“Give
us this day our daily bread,” we pray. Wrapped into
the prayer Jesus taught us to pray is an appeal that no
one go hungry, even for a day. Indeed, if the Lord’s
Prayer reflects a vision of earth “as it is in heaven,”
we are called by Jesus and by our own prayers to take active
steps to ensure that each person has daily bread: no more,
no less. [Read
the article by Washington Office Associate, Leslie Woods]
From
Louisville to Mali: U.S. Agriculture and Trade Policy
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Community
Farm Alliance members and staff surround Seydou Coulibaly,
cotton farmer from Mali, and Rasa Dawson (Oxfam)
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"The
low cotton prices caused by U.S. cotton subsidies have a ripple
effect in West Africa," explained Seydou Coulibaly. "In
my village we have difficulties paying for the costs of basic
education, health care and even drinkable water."
Read
the article about Coulibaly and his meeting with local farmers
and students 
By Rasa Zimliki and Andrew Kang Bartlett
Agriculture
and Trade Connections from the Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy, a grantee of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
These are a series of white papers and pamphlets that look
closely at all the major issues from Cancún. These
three documents will help you understand what happened at
the WTO ministerial as well as give insight into the links
to the Farm Bill.
Study
Guides
Making
the Connections: An Interfaith Perspective on U.S. Domestic
Agricultural Policy and International TradePresbyterian
Hunger Program and Center of Concern intern David Pedulla
uses the principles of the Interfaith Working Group on Trade
and Investment to raise ethical questions that we, as people
of faith, should be asking in the process leading up to the
reauthorization of the Farm Bill in 2007. The U.S. Farm Bill
has a tremendous impact on the lives of people in the U.S.
and around the world.[Read
the analysis]
Download
Related Educational Resources:
Complete
Adult Study Guide 6-Session Series (14 pages) exploring
Making the Connection's interfaith principles and the relationship
between agricultural policy and justice,
dignity,
democracy,
the common
good, the environment
and development.
Individual sessions can be downloaded by clicking on the
topics above.
Complete
Adult Study Guide 3-Session Series (9 pages) on Agribusiness
Consolidation, Agricultural
Subsidies and Export
Dumping. Individual sessions can be downloaded by clicking
on the topics above.
Food
and Agricultural Systems Resource Guide
Making
the Connections PowerPoint in PDF
or PowerPoint
Most
of the following was researched and compiled by World Hunger
Year's Food
Security Learning Center. This excellent organization
also houses the National
Hunger Clearinghouse and offers a wealth of resources
on building a more food secure world, including ways to take
action in your own community.
Farm
Bill Basics
Farm
Bill 101: Inquiry, Impact & Action
A PowerPoint presentation giving an overview of the Farm Bill
and the programs that it encompasses. Prepared by Fern Gale
Estrow, MS, RD, CDN, for Inquiry, Impact, and Action: The
2007 Farm Bill, New York City, 1/25/07.
Farm
Bill 101: A Quick and Easy Guide to Understanding the Farm
Bill
Oxfam America's guide to the Farm Bill.
Farm Bill 101
Food and Water Watch provides a brief history of U.S. agricultural
policy, bringing us to the current state of the Farm Bill
and commodity policies.
Farm Bill Primer
A resource of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the
Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group that provides
helpful links and background information, including how farm
legislation become law.
Farm
Bill Primer Blog
A compilation of links and multimedia resources related to
the Farm Bill.
Food
Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill,
Daniel Imhoff, Watershed Media, 2007.
Offers a concise, visually-dynamic overview of the Farm Bill.
(A shorter piece, Food
Fight: The 2007 Farm Bill is available
online through the Center for Ecoliteracy.)
U.S. Farm
Bill 2007
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's supplemental
issue on the 2007 Farm Bill, providing background, news, and
analysis. Visitors can sign up for IATP's Farm Bill
News list-serve.
What's in a
Farm Bill
The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture's educational
outline of the Farm Bill with links providing descriptions
of the various programs included in the omnibus legislation.
Policy
Platforms/Campaigns
Building Sustainable
Futures Campaign
A campaign aimed at expanding the public debate and changing
public policy on trade and agriculture.
Fairness in the Fields
Oxfam America's comprehensive report that provides background
information, a myth/fact discussion of commonly held beliefs
regarding farm subsidies and the Farm Bill, as well as policy
recommendations.
Farm
and Food Policy Project
A broad coalition of family farm, sustainable agriculture,
public health, anti-hunger, and other groups working toward
a just farm and food policy in the 2007 Farm Bill.
Food
From Family Farms Act
National Family Farm Coalition's proposal providing the basis
for a healthy family farm system that produces good food for
all people, a fair price for family farmers, and thriving
rural communities.
Green
Ribbon Farm Bill Campaign
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference's campaign
providing a vision for farm and food policy based on community
justice and environmental care.
Healthy Farms,
Healthy Food Campaign
Environmental Defense's platform, including "A Dozen
Fresh Ideas” to help farmers, consumer, and the environment.
Kentucky
Council of Churches statement on Local Economies and the Environment
Mainline
Denominations Farm Bill Priniciples
National
Anti-Hunger Organization's Statement on the 2007 Farm
Bill Reauthorization
Recommendations for reform of the Nutrition Title of the Farm
Bill.
The
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's Farm Bill Platform
Includes the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's "Top
10 Farm Bill Priorities"
USDA 2007 Farm Bill Proposals
The USDA's Farm Bill site includes regional Farm Bill Forum
transcripts, comments submitted by the public, theme papers,
and USDA analysis papers.
Perspectives
& Analysis
The 2007 Farm
- and Food - Bill, Tom Philpott, Food First Backgrounder
12(3), Fall 2006.
The 2007 Farm Bill – What We Need and Why,
George Naylor, National Family Farm Coalition, Reprinted with
permission of the Sound Consumer, a publication of a PCC Natural
Markets in Seattle, April 2007.
Addressing Domestic and International Farm Problems
,
Daryll Ray, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University
of Tennessee, February 11, 2004.
Amber
Fields of Bland, Dan Barber, New York Times, January
14, 2007.
American
Corn Growers Association Testimony before the
House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities
and Risk Management, Larry Mitchell, March 28, 2007.
The Farm Bill and Your Health, Food and
Water Watch, March 2007.
Rethinking
US Agricultural Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods
Worldwide, Daryll E. Ray, Daniel G. De La Torre
Ugarte, and Kelly J. Tiller, Agricultural Policy Analysis
Center, University of Tennessee, September 2003.
Toward a Global Food and Agricultural Policy
Tracey
Bruckner, Michael Duffy, Neil E. Harl, Paul W. Johnson, Fred
Kirschenmann, Daryll Ray, and Mark Ritchie, Leopold Center
for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, January
2005.
Understanding
the Farm Bill, Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy, 4-part series:
Voting
Beyond Our Forks, Christopher D. Cook, Common
Ground, February 2007.
What
does the 2007 U.S. [Food and] Farm Bill have to do with Public
Health?
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, PublicAction.org,
April 2007.
What
would be in your ideal farm bill in 2007?
Ken Meter, Crossroads Resource Center, March 13, 2006.
Women's
Voices in the Farm Bill: Broadening Perspectives in Agriculture
Policy Cassi
Johnson, Women, Food & Agriculture Network, Report to
the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, June 2006.
You
Are What You Grow, Michael Pollan, New York Times,
April 22, 2007.
Multimedia
Resources
VIDEO:
A Growing Hunger
Are we paying a terrible global price for subsidizing U.S.
cotton farmers?
Food
Fight: A Teach-in on the 2007 Farm Bill
A webcast of a UC Berkeley event from March 21, 2007 featuring
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma;
Dan Imhoff, author of Food Fight: A Citizen's Guide to
the Farm Bill; George Naylor, president of the National
Family Farms Coalition; Ann Cooper, Director of Nutrition
Services for the Berkeley school system, and others.
Community
Food Security Coalition's Farm Bill talks on YouTube
(PDF)
Videos of talks by food security experts from the Cafeterias
to Capitol Hill conference held in Baltimore, MD, in
March 2007.
Food
and Faith/Food Systems Videos:
Available
for borrowing from the Hunger Program
Beyond
Organic: The Vision Of Fairview Gardens
Bullfrog Films, P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-3764.
Produced by John DeGraaf (producer of Affluenza), this inspiring
video tells the story of Fairview Gardens and its struggle
to survive in the face of rapid suburban development. It
draws a sharp contrast between community-supported agriculture
and conventional chemical farming. 33 minutes.
Deconstructing
Supper
Bullfrog Films, P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547. 800-543-3764.
An eye-opening journey into the billion-dollar battle to
control food production. 48 minutes.
The
Global Banquet: Politics Of Food
Maryknoll
World Productions, 1-800-227-8523
Excellent educational piece covering agriculture and trade
issues as well as overproduction, GM crops, environmental
impact, farm labor, family farms, etc. Ideal for a two-part
high school, college or adult education series. Discussion
and study guide included, this video is divided into two
25-minute segments.
Homecoming:
Sometimes I Am Haunted By Memories Of Red Dirt And Clay
by Charlene Gilbert. An account of black farmers in
Georgia. A PBS documentary.
It's
Never Been My Turn
Foods
Resource Bank, 2141 Parkview, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-3925.
(269)349-3467. A Christian Response to World Hunger.
Justice
On The Table
Moving Image Productions, P.O. Box 5365, Eugene, OR 97405.
541-343-0441
Funded by the Hunger Program, this video listens to farmworkers
in Oregon fields and challenges us to consider the conditions
under which our food is grown, and to accompany farmworkers
in their struggles for justice. 25 minutes.
Sweat
Equity
by Daniel P. Tripoli. Metro Farming Film Project, PO Box
642011, Los Angeles, CA 90064.
Documentary film about creating community gardens from vacant
city land in Los Angeles, with inspiring stories of people
creating hope and life in their communities.
Strong
Roots, Fragile Farms
ABC documentary on family farmers hosted by Willie Nelson.
The film is narrated by Willie Nelson with music by Peter
Buffett, who scored the Dances With Wolves soundtrack. The
film explores the real life impact of globalization upon
today's family farmers in Iowa, North Carolina, the Philippines,
and Mexico.
Resources
for Action
Community Food
Security Coalition's Federal Policy Advocacy Handbook
Overview of the lifecycle of federal policy pieces and suggestions
for ways to engage as an activist in the policy process. Newly
updated for the 2007 Farm Bill!
Cultivating Change: An Action Guide for Promoting Farm
Bill Reform
Talking points and step-by-step plans of action for lobbying
your congress-people for Farm Bill reform. Includes easy-to-use
format for letters about the Farm Bill.
Farm
and Food Policy Update of the National Family Farm Coalition
Includes timely announcements, sign-on letters, notices of
upcoming Farm Bill-related events, and additional resources.
FRAC
2007 Farm Bill Food Stamp Reauthorization Center
Background, action alerts, updates, and sign-on letters on
the nutrition title. Also, House
and Senate Key Committee Contact Lists.
It's Your Farm Bill, Too!
A simple format to send a letter to your Congressperson about
crafting the upcoming Farm Bill to benefit small farmers and
consumers.
Sustainable
Agriculture Coalition's Farm Bill Action Center
Action alerts and legislative tracking, background materials,
and more.
*
Contact PHP Farm Bill Organizer, Fritz
Gutwein,
or Andrew
Kang Bartlett to
get involved *
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The
pie illustrates the impact agriculture, primarily modern
chemical farming, has on the environment
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