STRONGER FARMS – SAFER AMERICA

Dear Reader:  This draft statement comes from the first national meeting of Farms Not Arms in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on October 1.  Our attempt is to show the connections between our disastrous military policies abroad and the abandonment of our food production systems at home.  And, more importantly, what we can begin to do to help turn it around.

For five years now our country has been responding to the terror attacks of 9-11 with bombs.   It has not worked.  It is making us more enemies around the world and bankrupting our country at home.

It is also devastating our farms and rural America.  Already facing shrinking farmland and economic opportunities, the young people of rural America – in many cases our own children – are joining the military for a sense of purpose and a better future.  Too many are coming home dead, injured, disillusioned or disturbed.

In addition, the enormous cost of militarism has led to record government deficits and huge cuts in many important farm programs.  Add to that trade policies that prevent farms around the world from getting fair prices for their product, and erratic weather patterns that may portend that global warming is already here – and we have a food production system, here and abroad, that it is in crisis.

As farmers we know that what we saw a year ago in the aftermath of Katrina is the tip of the iceberg – a country so misfocused on its priorities that it was unable to help its own citizens at their time of greatest need.  While we foolishly try to police the whole world, we have lost the ability to feed ourselves.

So just as huge economic and military forces  are pursuing oil and power around the world, so too are they pursuing control of our farm land and our markets, without regard to the environment or our way of life.  We - farmers, farm workers, those in the ag industry and the consumers that support us - wish to  come together to help rebuild America from the ground-up in the ideals with which we were raised to believe in – self reliance, fairness, cooperation and democracy.

Farmers Say NO to War and Terror -

We will work with existing groups to support those projects that promote a safer and more peaceful world by working to fight hunger and promote food sovereignty, fair trade and social justice. 

While our country is alienating people around the world with our militaristic foreign policies, other groups are making friends for a fraction of the cost by handing out food, water and medical attention.  We need to learn from their examples, contribute to humanitarian needs when needed,  and at the same time make our farms stronger by promoting policies that respect the worth of our production and producers everywhere.

Swords to Plowshares –

We propose working with veterans groups to organize work on American farms for the war weary and injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Our farms can provide both a place to heal and viable vocational training.

This work and training can be extended to other young people who are looking for alternatives to the opportunities the military is promising them. (they seeing the military providing them.)

Go Green –

We propose looking to our farms to produce alternatives to the foreign oil on which we have become so dependant. (we have become so dependant on.)  Numerous types of crops are now being turned into (and can be turned into) environmentally friendly home grown fuels, and much more can be done in the future.  We (and we) would like to promote the research and development of these products.

We will also work with campaigns already in place (that work) to reduce (the fuels) fuel usage and C02 emissions (burned from) in our unnecessarily wasteful food production and distribution systems.  Promoting the return to more locally produced fruits and vegetables can help revitalize our farm communities, create job opportunities and reduce the stranglehold that Big Oil has on our agricultural economy.

No one embodies the tradition and the spirit of our country more than the American farmer.  Let us come together and strive for the country we want to become – one with strong rural communities, thriving farms and effective democratic participation.  And for a world where fair trade, food sovereignty and adequate food supply help contribute to a more peaceful and sustainable future.

Signed,

George Naylor,  President                                          Will Allen and Kate Deustenberg,

National Family Farm Coalition,                                Co-chairs Farms Not Arms,

Soybean farmer,  Anderson, Iowa                              Cedar Circle Farm, East Thetford, VT

John Kinsman,  President                                           Jim Cochran,

Family Farm Defenders,                                             Co-chair Farms Not Arms,

Dairy farmer, Lime Ridge, Wisconsin                        Swanton Berry Farm, Davenport, CA

Ronnie Cummins, President                                       Michael O'Gorman,

Organic Consumers Association                                 Co-chair  Farms Not Arms,

                                                                                    Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo, Pescadero, CA

Ralph Paige,  Executive Director                                John Keifer,

Federation of Southern Cooperatives                         Co-chair Farms Not Arms,

Epes, Alabama                                                            Rosebud Ranch, Sauk City, WI