Vested Interests Tie Up Federal Farm Bill
1 November 2007
An opinon-editorial published in The Brattleboro Reformer, October 22, 2007, by Dexter Randall.
As a dairy farmer for the last 35 years, I have watched and debated many Farm Bills. Through the years, one thing remained a constant for me, whether I was talking to legislators in Montpelier or in Washington, DC: I have always advocated for family farmers.
We have made great strides to creatively support family farmers and market our milk, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, and chicken to folks right here in our own communities. Unfortunately, these victories for the family farmer are not being duplicated at the federal level. Vested interests appear to have a stronghold over Washington and we must speak up—this year’s Farm Bill is our opportunity for meaningful reform.
Many Vermonters, even non farmers, might be surprised to learn they too are impacted by the fate of this legislation, as it influences the types of food available in our grocery stores and schools, determines how our nation’s poor are supported and dictates whether or not the beauty of our rural landscape is preserved.
As a state that so often stands up for justice and progress, we must act on our collective values now to ensure the 2007 Farm Bill represents change for the well being of our communities, not the broken status quo.
With the involvement of farmers, sustainable agriculture advocates, humanitarian groups, and environmentalists, I remain hopeful that the 2007 Farm Bill will be different, that fairness and a moral high-ground will be taken. Unfortunately, the bill that passed the House of Representatives was very disappointing. As in the past, industrial sized farms would continue to receive massive subsidy handouts that encourage overproduction and consolidation, while family farms would receive the meager leftovers.
Devised during the Great Depression, the Farm Bill was designed to give American farmers, like me, a safety net when the market bottomed out. But today’s Farm Bill gives out large government payments to producers of a handful of commodity crops, like cotton and rice. Through these subsidies, it’s you and I - the taxpayers- that provide the funds for large scale farms to gobble up family farms, driving land prices up and making it difficult for the small guy to afford to stay in business, and nearly impossible for beginning farmers just starting out.
We have seen the results of the unfair distribution of Farm Bill money right here in Vermont. The number of family farms in our state is declining, many of our rural communities are struggling and our beautiful landscape is being threatened. We need to stem the loss of Vermont’s family farms if we are to have a stable economy.
Small farmers are the hub of the wheel of Vermont’s rural economy. But our country’s largest piece of agriculture legislation doesn’t care much about them. In fact, loopholes in the law are so big, some of the largest farmers in other states collect commodity subsidies in excess of one million dollars, while many struggling family farms get nothing, this is not the way to a bright future for American agriculture.
If we truly care about the state of family farms, the availability of locally produced food and maintaining the scenic beauty of our state as well and the environment as a whole, we should see that real reform is brought about when the Senate considers the Farm Bill this month. Gargantuan handouts to large farms needs to stop. That money should be shifted to where it really counts. Funding conservation programs, school nutrition programs and rural development aid will create a stronger rural economy and deliver local nutritious food to our people.
To make matters worse, commodity subsidies are also hurting family farmers in poor countries, many who live on just a dollar a day. I saw this with my own eyes when I went to Mali last year with the humanitarian group Oxfam. I met men, women and children who spend long hours bent over picking cotton by hand, not to get wealthy, but just to survive. For the millions who depend on cotton in Africa, revenue from the crop is often the only income to cover basic needs such as food, healthcare, education and clothing.
According to a recent study, reforming our cotton subsidies would increase world cotton prices, resulting in additional income that could feed an additional million children for a year. That would make a world of difference for the people I met in Mali.
Time is running out for Congress to do the right thing on the Farm Bill, and the opportunity for reform only comes around once every five years. If Senators Leahy and Sanders don’t take a stand, Congress could sell out family farmers with policies that have devastating effects on rural communities.
