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Subject:
It's time for a Fair Farm Bill! Let our senators
hear from you!
Date: October 15, 2007
ISSUE:
The U.S. Senate can make the Farm Bill serve human, not corporate,
needs
ACTION: Join the Fair Harvest Campaign
Inspired by
Jesus' and other prophets' commands to care for poor and hungry
people, people of faith are organizing throughout the country
to advocate for changes in U.S. agriculture policy that benefit
families, hungry neighbors, God's creation, and people living
in poverty around the world.
This year,
Congress will rewrite the U.S. Farm Bill, a comprehensive law
that governs U.S. agricultural, food and farmland policies. Our
nation's current system of cash payments for some farmers benefits
primarily large agricultural producers while leaving behind most
small and medium-sized farm families. The present commodity-payment
system also hurts struggling farmers in poor countries and fuels
the poverty that claims 30,000 lives a day around the world.
This is one
of the chief reasons for the current immigration crisis - farmers
who have been ruined economically by US commodity supports come
to the US to find some means to replace their lost income and
help their families survive. At home, those same corporate farms,
those that grow grains, cotton, or raise livestock - all part
of the commodities markets - get federal support while farmers
in California that grow mostly table crops such as fruits and
vegetables are unsupported. And in both cases, small farmers get
nothing while huge corporations receive massive taxpayer-funded
payments.
Ironically,
just as we all are deliberating the damage that commodity crops
do to our health - high fructose corn syrup, processed grains,
high-fat meats - we continue to underwrite their production while
ignoring the healthier food choices California farmers provide.
The Farm Bill
must also:
-Increase
investments that combat rural poverty and strengthen rural communities;
-Strengthen and expand programs that reduce hunger and increase
nutrition;
-Strengthen conservation and good stewardship of the earth;
-Provide transitions for farmers to alternative forms of support
that are more equitable and do not distort trade in ways that
fuel hunger and poverty at home or abroad;
-Protect the health and safety of farm workers;
-Expand research related to alternative, clean, and renewable
forms of energy;
-Improve and expand international food aid in ways that encourage
local food security.
Your voice is needed to compel the Senate to make meaningful changes
in current farm policies. Over the summer, the House of Representatives
passed a bill that largely continues the current system. The burden
for passing fair farm policies now moves to the Senate, which
will act this fall. Join other people of faith in advocating for
a Farm Bill that is fair to small and mid-sized farmers in the
U.S., supports nutrition and conservation programs, and does not
hurt poor farmers struggling to make a living around the world.
It is imperative
that Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer hear from you
about these inequities!
The Religious
Working Group on the Farm Bill invites you to begin a Fair Harvest
Campaign in your congregation and community and help create a
fair farm policy that helps family farmers and promotes the common
good.
Step 1: Organize
a Fair harvest Sunday with members of your congregation. Arrange
to write and collect hand written postcards calling for a fair
Farm Bill. (Sample card below.)
Step 2: Purchase
colorful postcards from your state that depict where you live.
Gather people before or after worship service, in your home, or
at a community function, such as a farmers' or fall festival to
write postcards to your senators.
Step 3: Collect
the postcards and drop them off at your senators' state offices
if possible. Otherwise mail to the DISTRICT office (mail to Congressional
offices can be extremely delayed.) See below for addresses for
Senators Feinstein and Boxer.
Step 4: Tell
Fair Harvest what you've done! Please let them know about your
activities so that they and we can help you and others in your
state garner media attention for your efforts. Send info to Kathleen@cg-strategies.com.
Why Do a Postcard
Campaign?
The postcards are a colorful way to illuminate the connection
between your state and the Farm Bill. Senators are telling us
they need to hear more from their constituents on this issue.
We cannot change the debate without your voice!
Sample postcard:
Dear Senator
_______________,
As a person
of faith who attends [name of congregation, denomination] in [name
of city], I support U.S. farm policy that benefits family farmers,
hungry neighbors, God's creation and people living in deadly poverty
around the world.
The U.S. Farm
Bill should:
Ensure that commodity payments go to those who need them most
rather than largest-scale producers.
Reduce the harm of U.S. agricultural policies to farmers and
families living in deadly poverty around the world, and
Strengthen nutrition, conservation, rural development programs,
and
food aid.
The bill passed by the House of Representatives fails to enact
meaningful change. We are looking for stronger leadership from
the Senate. I look forward to your efforts on passing a fair 2007
Farm Bill.
Sincerely,
[Your name] [Your address]
SENATOR DIANNE
FEINSTEIN
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
11111 Santa
Monica Blvd., Suite 915
Los Angeles, CA 90025
750 B Street,Suite
1030
San Diego, CA 92101
2500Pulare
St., Suite 4290
Fresno, CA 93721
SENATOR BARBARA
BOXER
1700 Montgomery Street, Suite 240
San Francisco, CA 94111
501 I Street,
Suite 7-600
Sacramento, CA 95814
2500 Tulare
St., Suite 5290
Fresno, CA 93721
312 N. Spring
Street, Suite 1748
Los Angeles, Ca 90012
600 B Street,
Suite 2240
San Diego, CA 92101
201 North
E Street, Suite 210
San Bernardino, CA 92401
For more information
on the Fair Harvest Campaign and the Religious Working Group,
visit www.faithfarmteams.com
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