Understanding Global Trade ~ Part One
Free trade and food security: compatible?

Food production and international trade are contentious issues between the industrialized North and the developing South. The United States and the European Union are criticized for their high levels of agricultural subsidies, which contribute to commodity surpluses and lower farmgate prices worldwide. Developing nations of the South are criticized for their trade barriers, even as they plead for greater access to markets in the North. The National Catholic Rural Life Conference addressed these concerns at the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, DC, on February 21st. Our basic question: Is it possible to outline a vision of a just and beneficial system of international trade than enhances rather than displaces local food control?

The underlining context in trade discussions often begins with food security. Do people have sufficient access to nutritious food for everyone? This definition of food security, however, fails to address who produces the food or how. A more thoughtful definition of food security ought to include access to locally produced and environmentally friendly food. These qualifiers ensure that nutritious food is readily available in any locality without dependence on external markets or distant distributors. It is also important that food is produced in a way that does not harm soil and water resources and compromise future food production.

Under the current industrial food system, all that seems to matter is adequate supplies of foods on grocery shelves. Questions about production methods, global transportation and sustainability are incidental to packaged stocks of food. Trade representatives and transnational corporations argue that "open and free" agricultural trade is a necessary way to feed a growing world population. Therefore, trade barriers must be eradicated and market access pried open across national borders. Economic models predict that this system will create greater food security by allowing efficient producers in any part of the world to circulate surpluses at the lowest cost for the benefit of consumers everywhere. It also means, according to language in the trade agreements, the protection of investments by those corporations able to move capital, technologies and management into localities around the world.

This kind of global food system displaces local food systems and the ability of populations to feed themselves directly. At the Washington, DC gathering, Bruce Anderson, a professor at St. Mary’s College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, outlined flaws in standard economic models that proffer "one size fits all". National economies, or even one global economy, is the best way to manage growth and frame development plans. Dr. Anderson disputes the notion that the capital circuit of production and money is more important than the multitude of local circuits where people work, produce, consume and live. If economic models are not locally-oriented and focused on human needs, then capital circuits will expand without regard for community enrichment.

"Efficiency is what’s gotten the food system into huge problems," Anderson said. "Does it make sense to ship grapes from Chile to Nova Scotia? Or to ship apples when you’ve got your own?"

Robert Gronski, NCRLC policy coordinator, presented the view from the farmer’s perspective and explained how a handful of agribusiness corporations control the markets in livestock, poultry, grain handling, milling and food processing. These same firms are also major players in other countries and seek to expand wherever markets are profitable. Concentration in the seed and biotech companies is also extraordinarily high. It is clear that the agri-food system will soon be controlled by a few major firms who will "feed the world", or at least become "supermarkets to the world" for those who can buy.

Although this global "food cartel" appears dominant, there are actions communities can make to build a more just and sustainable local economy, according to Carol Richardson-Smith, NCRLC’s specialist in local food systems. In Iowa, for instance, three times as many farmers’ markets exist now as they did seven years ago. Community-based sustainable agriculture systems have also increased over the past several years, allowing consumers to buy directly from farmers in their area.

Sustainability rather than growth is the goal, although that goes against prevailing wisdom, Richardson-Smith said. Farmers are told to get bigger if they want to compete in today’s food system; the implication is that "bigger is better". But if food security and local community truly matter, then "community supported agriculture" is the wave of the future. NCRLC is part of a network that promotes this kind of rural community support, but also recognizes the need for policy changes at the local, state and federal levels.

To this end, we have relaunched our Green Ribbon campaign and are distributing new materials to help parishes and groups realize that "eating is a moral act". These resource aids are based on the recent Catholic reflections on food, farmers and farmworkers by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "For I was Hungry & You Gave Me Food" (Jan. 2004). Along with the USCCB booklet, a parish or community group can use the resource aids to take a critical look at how our food is produced and how to start making changes. Visit www.ncrlc.com/greenribbon.html to review and download the information.


Understanding Global Trade ~ Part Two
The rising call to food sovereignty

Food sovereignty was coined at the World Food Summit +5 (Rome, 2002) by members of Via Campesina, an international coalition of peasant farm groups who are confronting the adverse consequences of economic globalization. Food sovereignty emphasizes the right of each nation to protect and regulate domestic agricultural production and trade to achieve sustainability, guarantee a livelihood for farmers, and assure its citizens are fed. Food sovereignty does not negate trade, states Via Campensina; "it promotes the formulation of trade policies and practices that serve the rights of peoples to safe, healthy and ecologically sustainable production." As such, farmer and peasant groups consider food sovereignty to be a matter of national security.

Br. Dave Andrews attended the World Food Summit +5 gathering two years ago; NCRLC has since remained active in the growing global call for food sovereignty. Through our international links, NCRLC has recently attended gatherings in Mexico, Malta and Thailand. In collaboration with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), NCRLC continues to bring together U.S. and Mexican farmers who are grappling with the consequences of NAFTA and preparing for the brunt of other regional trade agreements. These connections were expanded at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, DC when CRS hosted visitors from Central and South American countries.

Asia-Pacific Network for Food Sovereignty

In late March, NCRLC took part in a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Network for Food Sovereignty in Bangkok, Thailand. We accepted an invitation to discuss our Agribusiness Accountability Initiative (www.agribusinessaccountability.org), in joint sponsorship with the Center of Concern. The Asia-Pacific Network is composed of development groups from south and southeast Asia that seek "to develop, promote and unite social movements, campaigners and other alliances on the concept of food sovereignty and alternatives to the neo-liberal paradigm in agriculture and trade."

The Asia-Pacific Network also envisions greater North-South linkages among fair trade advocates and farmers to promote a common advocacy around food sovereignty. North-South linkages would contribute to strengthening campaigns for food sovereignty among respective governments and highlighting the rights of small farmers who practice ecological and sustainable agriculture. NCRLC is working to bring North and South voices together under the growing forum of agribusiness accountability.

International Catholic rural movements

In early March, NCRLC attended an executive committee meeting in Malta of the International Catholic Rural Association. Although still focused on building its membership, this association has begun to share rural world experiences in the complexities of globalization. With their secretariat based in Rome, NCRLC believes this association can have an impact on UN Food & Agriculture Organization policy. We have encouraged the ICRA secretariat to participate in the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development initiative of UN-FAO, launched at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. NCRLC is an active partner in this initiative, which is a mechanism to coordinate the successful activities of local NGOs with the policy formations at the international level. In the wake of these global forums, it becomes imperative for civil society groups to bring to fruition the promises and proposals made to peasant groups and rural communities.

NCRLC is also an associate member of the International Federation of Catholic Adult Rural Movements (FIMARC). Although NCRLC was not able to attend, this grassroots federation organized its Southeast Asian regional seminar on the issue of "access to land and food sovereignty" just prior to the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India (January 2004). As it turned out, FIMARC members had established contacts with some of the Asia-Pacific Network members, which in turn are now in contact with NCRLC. Our networks are now beginning to rub together in a greater synergism.

International Day of Farmers’ Struggle

This article began with reference to Via Campesina and their global call for food sovereignty. During the World Social Forum in January, the peasant farmers of Via Campesina and other social movement groups discussed strategies for resistance and struggle against neoliberal policies that favor corporations over communities. As part of their common agenda, they called for an "International Day of Farmers’ Struggle" on April 17th. This is a call to get "the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and transnationals out of agriculture and food." Their key concerns are:
Demand for genuine agrarian reform and rejection of the land policies of the World Bank.
Rejection of dumping practices and the liberalization of markets imposed through policies of WTO and other "free" trade agreements.
Demand for peasant-based sustainable agriculture for people and strong opposition to the control and dominance of transnational corporations.
Elaboration of policies focused on domestic production and consumption.


Our involvement in these international events and movements is to bring a voice of solidarity between farmers and rural communities in the U.S. with those from around the world. Otherwise, the world hears only the unilateral position of the U.S. trade representative and the voice of industrial agriculture. The continuing failures of WTO ministerial meetings and other one-sided trade talks reveals that a fresh alternative to trade rules is urgently needed. A combination of food sovereignty and fair trade can come together to address hunger, food security, the global farm crisis of commodities, supply management and economic development for the common good of all.


April 2004
Robert Gronski
NCRLC Policy Coordinator
Ncrlcg@mchsi.com