Title: Making the Connections U.S. Domestic Agricultural Policy and International Trade An Interfaith Persp
1Making the ConnectionsU.S. Domestic Agricultural
Policy and International TradeAn Interfaith
Perspective
- Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment
- August, 2005
2Introduction
- Everyone should have access to safe, nutritious,
and culturally appropriate food - U.S. food and agricultural policy has global
consequences
3Why Now?
- U.S. Farm Bill will be reauthorized in 2007 and
the debates are already starting - The Farm Bill legislates
- Farm Programs (Subsidies)
- Nutrition Program (Food Stamps)
- Conservation Programs
4Outline Of Presentation
- Use ethical principles of the Interfaith Working
Group on Trade and Investment to raise the key
ethical questions that people of faith should be
asking in the process leading up to the Farm Bill - See www.tradejusticeusa.org for more information
5Principle 1
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should respect
and support the dignity of the human person, the
integrity of creation, and our common humanity
6Principle 2
- U.S Food and Agricultural Policy decisions should
be transparent and should involve the meaningful
participation of the most vulnerable stakeholders
7Principle 3
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should advance
the common good and be evaluated in light of its
impact on those who are most vulnerable, both
domestically and internationally
8Principle 4
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should
safeguard the global commons and respect the
right of local communities to protect and
sustainably develop their natural resources
9Principle 5
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should reflect
that the U.S. government, in collaboration with
civil society, is creating public policies that
encourage the development and welfare of all
people, both domestically and internationally
10Goal of Presentation
- Further discussion and analysis
- Unified progressive interfaith voice
11Principle 1
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should respect
and support the dignity of the human person, the
integrity of creation, and our common humanity
12Right to Food
- Every person has the right to an adequate amount
of nutritious food, through production or
purchase, to sustain a dignified human life.
13Food Security Hunger
- Food Security when all people, at all times,
have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious
food to meet their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life - Hunger 852 million people on earth are still
hungry
Bread for the World, World Hunger and Poverty
How They Fit Together www.bread.org/hungerbasics/
international.html. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations,
www.fao.org/spfs.
14Why is Hunger So Wide Spread?
- Current agricultural system is driven by large
corporations, banks, and individuals, whose
primary goal is profit, not feeding people
15Farmworker Rights
- Annual incomes below 10,000
- Not guaranteed overtime pay
- Not guaranteed the right to organize
- Exposure to hazardous pesticides and chemicals
- Do not receive medical insurance from their
employers - For landless agricultural workers in the Global
South, many of whom are small farmers who have
been forced off their land, working conditions
can be even worse than they are in the United
States.
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs,
www.afop.org/advocacy. Movimento dos
Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers
Movement), www.mstbrazil.org. Farmworker Justice
Fund Inc (www.fwjustice.org) exposed to
16Corporate Consolidation
- Threat to the Integrity of Creation
- Threatens justice in the distribution of
agricultural goods and resource - Agribusiness industry is an oligopoly
17Corporate Consolidation Statistics
- In 2002, Monsanto and DuPont alone controlled 65
of the global seed markets for maize, excluding
China. - While three quarters of all human food is
grain-based, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland,
Louis Dreyfus, and Bunge controlled 73 of the
global grain trade in 2003.
Oligopoly, Inc. by ETC Group, www.agribusinessacc
ountability.org/page/264/1. Boston Consulting
Group, AWB (International) Maximising Returns to
Growers Supplying the Single Desk, 2003, in AWB
(International), Submission to the 2004 Wheat
Marketing Review, 2004.
18Principle 2
- U.S Food and Agricultural Policy decisions should
be transparent and should involve the meaningful
participation of the most vulnerable stakeholders
19Common Humanity and Rural Development
- Trend has been that family farmers in the Global
North and small farmers in the Global South have
gone out of business - Increase in off-farm work
- Currently, less than 10 percent of rural
Americans live on farms, and only two percent of
rural Americans earn their primary income from
farming. - It is estimated that as much as 89 percent of the
income for farm households came from off farm
sources in 2003.
Bread for the World, Strengthening Rural
Communities Hunger Report 2005, 2005, p 21.
Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org/farm/find
ings.php.
20Principle 3
- U.S Food and Agricultural Policy decisions should
be transparent and should involve the meaningful
participation of the most vulnerable stakeholders
21Democratic Participation
- The voices of those who are directly affected by
public policy decisions should be involved in the
decision-making process - Money talks in agricultural policy
22Participation and the Federal Legislature
- During the 2004 election cycle, the agribusiness
industry contributed 52,593,698 to political
campaigns
Center for Responsive Politics, Agribusiness
Long-term Contribution Trends, www.crp.org, 6
July 2005.
23Agricultural Lobbying
- In 2004, Monsanto Co. Spent 3,257,000 on
lobbying efforts - In 2004, Cargill Inc. spent 460,000 on lobbying
efforts
Source The Center for Public Integrity
www.publicintegrity.org/lobby
24Participation in Federal Agencies
- Among the top ranking political appointees at the
USDA in 2004, there were nearly as many people
who previously worked with agribusiness firms or
their trade associations, lobbying firms, and
research arms as there were career civil
servants.
Philip Mattera, USDA, Inc How Agribusiness has
Hijacked the Regulatory Policy at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 2004.
25Revolving Door Policy
- The resulting regulatory frameworks tend to be
more beneficial to industrial agricultural
producers than family farmers.
26International Democracy
- Problems with lack of transparency and
undemocratic nature of WTO processes - Without transparency and democratic participation
at the WTO, the countries that are hurt by U.S.
agricultural policy have no place to bring their
grievances.
Various NGOs, Re Memorandum on the need to
improve internal transparency and participation
in the WTO, July 2003, from the International
Gender and Trade Network, www.igtn.org.
27Principle 3
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should advance
the common good and be evaluated in light of its
impact on those who are most vulnerable, both
domestically and internationally.
28Common Good
- A just agricultural policy can promote universal
access to adequate food - Family farmers in the Global North, African
American farmers, and small farmers in the Global
South are among those who experience this growing
injustice in the agricultural industry
29Supporting Family Farmers
- Family farmers often do not receive a fair price
for their commodities - Family farmers can become dependent on a
government subsidized system for much of their
income - The current subsidy system does not translate
into a decent income for farmers and results in
low farm prices that depress the prices for farm
commodities in the U.S. and other farm-based
economies throughout the world.
30African American Farmers
- Even though African American farmers make up one
percent of United States farmers, they only
receive one-tenth of one percent of all crop
subsidy payments. - Also, African American farmers are continually
being pushed off of their land. In 1910, African
Americans owned 14 percent of the countrys
farms. Today, they own about one percent of
farms.
Environmental Working Group, Analysis of Farm
Subsidy Payments to African American Recipients,
1996-2000, www.ewg.org. Damien Jackson, 40 Acres
and a Mule, Denied, 17 November 2004,
www.alternet.org. Federation of Southern
Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund,
www.federationsoutherncoop.com/aalandown04.htm
31Agricultural Dumping
- Dumping is when a firm in one country exports a
good to another country at below the cost of
production - Has detrimental effects on small farmers
throughout the world, especially small farmers
and women in the Global South.
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
(www.iatp.org)
32Agricultural Dumping Stats
- In 2003, wheat was exported from the U.S. at an
average price of 28 below the cost of production - In 2003, cotton was exported from the U.S. at an
average price of 47 below the cost of production
Sophia Murphy, Ben Lilliston, and Mary Beth
Lake, WTO Agreement on Agriculture A Decade of
Dumping, Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy, 2005.
33Why Dumping Happens
- U.S. export subsidies
- Certain U.S. domestic supports
- Increased agribusiness consolidation
- A lack of supply management
- Overproduction
- Pressure from the U.S. and the EU on countries in
the Global South to rapidly liberalize their
agricultural sectors
34Problems Caused by Dumping
- Small farmers cannot compete, even at their local
markets - Displacement of small farmers to urban areas or
other countries - Undermines agricultural development in the Global
South - Disproportionately negative impact on women
Maria Pia Hernandez, Incorporating Gender
Considerations for the Designation of Special
Products in WTO Agriculture Negotiations,
International Gender and Trade Network,
Switzerland, March 2005, www.igtn.org.
35Principle 4
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should
safeguard the global commons and respect the
right of local communities to protect and
sustainably develop their natural resources.
36Environmental Impacts
- Soil and water contamination because of increased
dependence on pesticides and chemicals - Soil erosion from monocropping
- A loss of biodiversity
Agribusiness Accountability Initiative,
www.agribusinessaccountability.org.
37The Beginnings of Sustainability
- Conservation Security Program (CSP)
- The CSP is a voluntary conservation program that
supports ongoing stewardship of private
agricultural lands by providing payments and
technical assistance for farmers who are
maintaining and enhancing natural resources.
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture,
Stewardship Incentives Committees,
www.sustainableagriculture.net. National
Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Farm Bill
2002 Conservation Security Program Key Points,
2005, www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/cspqa5905.pdf
.
38Who Makes Decisions?
- Decisions about the use and development of
natural resources are being decided by CEOs and
stockholders, not the people whose communities
are directly affected by corporate agriculture.
39Principle 5
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Policy should reflect
that the U.S. government, in collaboration with
civil society, is creating public policies that
encourage the development and welfare of all
people, both domestically and internationally.
40Food Sovereignty
- Food sovereignty calls for members of civil
society and governments to have the right to
define their agricultural and food policy,
without any dumping vis-à-vis third countries.
Via Campesina, What is food sovereignty? 2003,
www.viacampesina.org.
41Pillars of Food Sovereignty
- The prioritization of local agricultural
production to feed people over producing mainly
for export - Access of peasants and landless peoples to land
- The right of countries to protect themselves from
below-cost agricultural and food imports - Agricultural prices linked to production costs
- The recognition of the rights of women farmers
Via Campesina, What is food sovereignty? 2003,
www.viacampesina.org.
42Government Procurement
- Government buying typically represents ten to
fifteen percent of a countrys GDP. - Intentional government procurement of
agricultural goods and food can encourage
sustainable agricultural practices, local
agricultural development, and important financial
support to family farmers.
World Trade Organization, Overview of the
Agreement on Government Procurement, www.wto.org.
43Free Trade and Procurement
- Under the regulations of some free trade
agreements, government procurement would need to
be as non-discriminatory as possible, meaning
that decisions about purchasing must be based
solely on price and quality, not social or
environmental concerns.
CAFTA Does Not Measure Up, American Friends
Service Committee, www.afsc.org/trade-matters/trad
e-agreements/cafta-measure-up.htm.
44Conclusions
- Must consider structural and policy implications
- Treatment of farmworkers
- The forced displacement of family farmers
- Corporate consolidation
- Governmental transparency and procurement
decisions - Environmental protection
- Racial and gender equality
- Agricultural dumping
45Conclusions (Contd)
- Enhance the right to food globally
- Address economic justice
- Promote environmental sustainability
- Ensure human rights