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Working on the 2007 Farm Bill has been high on the list of AFJN's work this summer. The Farm Bill, especially the subsidies paid to American cotton farmers, has a great impact on the lives of small holder farmers in Africa. Staff has been on the Hill more than once to plead the cause of those African farmers, demanding that they not be priced out of the market by subsidies in the U.S. that, to a great extent, go to wealthy farmers. That is why AFJN has made common cause with other faith-based advocacy offices and endorsed the following Principles to be taken into account in the US Farm Bill for 2007. We urge our members and friends to take note of these principles and to remind your members of Congress that as a community of faith we require that justice be accorded to all brothers and sisters and not just American ones.
Religious
Working Group on the Farm Bill
From
God’s initial command to be good stewards of creation to the Prophets’ call for
justice among governments and nations, people of faith in every age are called
together to work for the common good. Inspired by Jesus’ command to care for
poor and hungry people, we join together to support policies that promote
economic justice, strengthen rural communities at home and around the world, care
for the land as God’s creation, foster right relations among nations and achieve
an end to hunger.
Broad reform of U.S. food and
farm policy, including adjustments to the commodity payment programs, is
important to progress against hunger and poverty in this country and around the
world. The current system should be changed in ways that would strengthen
communities in rural America,
ensure all Americans an adequate, nutritious diet, provide better and more
targeted support for U.S.
farm families of modest means, and conserve the land for present and future
generations. In addition, such changes are necessary to unlock the ability of
small-holder farmers in developing countries, who comprise the majority of the
world’s hungry people, to improve their livelihoods and escape poverty.
The
Working Group will urge Congress to take the opportunity presented by the
reauthorization of the Farm Bill to prioritize policies that reduce hunger and
poverty in the United States
and around the world. To this end we support the following principles for the
2007 farm bill.
Principles
The 2007 farm bill should:
Increase investments that combat rural poverty and
strengthen rural communities
Strengthen and expand programs that reduce hunger and
improve nutrition in the United
States
Strengthen and increase investment in policies that
promote conservation and good stewardship of the land
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
Protect the health and safety of farmworkers
Expand research related to alternative, clean and
renewable forms of energy
Improve and expand international food aid in ways that
encourage local food security
Signers
Bread for the World
Church World Service
The Episcopal Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America
National Council of Churches
Presbyterian Church (USA),
Washington
Office
United Church of Christ
Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist
Church General Board of
Church and Society
United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Endorsers
Africa Faith and Justice Network
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Women’s Missionary Society
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Women’s Home and Overseas Missionary Society
Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Relief Services
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Women’s Missionary Council
Lutheran World Relief
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
NETWORK
Oxfam America
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Sojourners/Call to Renewal
Together For Hope: The Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship’s Rural Poverty Initiative
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