JO LUCK - Heifer International
The Right to Food and Farm

People, land, water, seed and livestock are all critical factors in producing an abundance of high quality food for the world’s people. The food and farm policy of the United States should acknowledge that the welfare of these components is the foundation for ensuring healthy communities worldwide and therefore a healthy and food-secure nation. Access to good quality food and a voice in establishing the system that creates that food should be considered inalienable rights of all people.

Food security is also a national security issue and as such we must preserve the resources, people, land and water that will support our nation in a time of emergency. Large farms have their place in filling those needs, but so do small and medium-sized farms. Smaller farms are more flexible, often more productive, sustain greater biodiversity and are able to respond to changes faster than large industrial farms. But we need a farm bill that acknowledges their relevance and provides support to nourish their needs. We need a farm bill that once again makes farming an attractive option to young people and new farmers, and provides real opportunity for them to be successful.

This strategy should be coupled with a mandate that our policies do not cripple other nations from being able to provide good food for their own people. Limits should be set regarding the control of any sector of the food system by too few entities. Methods of food production should be examined with the triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social factors all considered, with any subsidies weighted accordingly. All of this should be accomplished in an integrated manner such that all programs are mutually supportive.

In accordance with these basic principles, the food and farm policy for the United States should accomplish the following:

1. Guarantee the right to high-quality food: Provide high quality, culturally appropriate food to all citizens working towards the elimination of the need for emergency food assistance.

2. Guarantee the right to farm: Provide real opportunity for a reasonable livelihood to those who devote their lives to producing our nation’s food in a manner that builds and supports the land, the water and the livestock. This could be accomplished by a fully funded national farmer apprenticeship program tied into guaranteed loans after completion of the program. This effort would be supported by a revised commodity title and a return to supply control measures.

3. Guarantee the right to safe food: Provide a regulatory environment and a processing and distribution infrastructure that ensures small producers can access this infrastructure. Also guarantee that food is processed as close to the point of sale as possible.

4. Guarantee the right of public institutions to procure high quality food: Provide incentives for state and federal institutions to purchase food produced from within a 200-mile radius.

5. Guarantee communities in foreign nations the right to farm: Reduce reliance on imported food and support appropriate farm diversification at home. Redirect investment in export commodity-based agriculture to community-based food systems globally.

6. Guarantee the right of future generations to live in a clean environment: Develop and monitor indicators of sound farm stewardship and animal husbandry. Research and support forage-based livestock programs that reduce our huge reliance on grains for livestock feeding. Support farming practices that increase biological diversity. Reverse the trend of commercial development of prime farm land. Reduce reliance on nonrenewable energy.

For people in this United States and for people around the world, food is life. Food policy and farm policy deserve our full attention and commitment as we work to build a better world.

Jo Luck is President and CEO of Heifer International in Little Rock, Arkansas. Visit www.heifer.org.


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This article was published in the Winter 2005 issue of Catholic Rural Life©. No portion of this article may be reproduced without written permission from The National Catholic Rural Life Conference. To purchase the Winter 2005 issue of Catholic Rural Life, please contact The National Catholic Rural Life Conference office at 4625 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50310-2199, call (515) 270-2634, or e-mail ncrlc@mchsi.com. The cost is $2.50 an issue plus postage and handling.