UPDATED OCT. 29, 2007 – Religious groups bolted into the debate over U.S. farm policy this year, linking it with poverty, nutrition and environmentalism. They are pushing for reforms as Congress hammers out a hotly debated farm bill, as it does every five years or so. The House passed a farm bill in July, and the Senate version has just been approved in committee.

The far-reaching farm bill is politically sensitive and sets national policy on food stamps, nutrition programs, farm subsidies and conservation. Religious groups have frequently weighed in on food stamp and nutrition programs, but this time a wider range of religious voices are active in the debate on a wider range of issues. They are working in diverse alliances – often with secular groups – to link farm policy to the issues of hunger, obesity, food integrity, poverty, justice and environmentalism in the United States and around the world.

A key discussion is whether the current farm subsidies program is working, or whether it unfairly benefits the wealthy while slighting small farmers and rural communities. Groups such as Bread for the World that advocate reforming commodities distribution were disappointed with the House bill – though pleased with its nutrition and conservation programs – and are working hard to lobby the Senate.

The attention to the farm bill is also part of the growing movement toward sustainable agriculture, which addresses a range of farm issues, including: environmental concerns, the decline of family farms, farm laborers’ working conditions, increasing production costs, and economic and social problems in rural communities. It promotes practices that address these issues and encourages the participation of farmers, laborers, policy-makers and consumers.

Why it matters

U.S. farm policy includes issues important to religious communities concerned with poverty, justice and the environment. While it’s set nationally, the policy plays out at the grass-roots level, in communities and rural areas around the country.

Jump to:
National sources
    Government
    Major agricultural groups
    Religious
    Other players
    Sustainable agriculture
    Writers
Background
 

National sources

GOVERNMENT

• Charles Conner is acting U.S. secretary of agriculture. See the Agriculture Department’s farm bill Web site and media kit. Contact through Terri Teuber, director of communications, 202-720-4623, terri.teuber@usda.gov.

In the U.S. Senate:

• Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Read his statement on the House passage of the farm bill. He is a member of Bread for the World’s board.
• See the Web site of the Senate committee, which includes press releases and information about the farm bill.
• See a list of committee members.
• Contact the committee staff, 202-224-2035.

In the U.S. House:

• Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., is chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Read his statement about the farm bill.
• See the committee’s farm bill page.
• See a list of committee members.
• Contact the committee staff, 202-225-2171, agriculture@mail.house.gov.

MAJOR AGRICULTURAL GROUPS

• Bob Stallman is president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The national organization links to state farm bureaus. Read a July 27, 2007, news release praising the House bill. Contact bstallman@fb.org.
• Stephen L. Censky is chief executive officer of the American Soybean Association, which supports the farm bill as passed by the House. See a news release. The association lists executive committee members from around the country. Contact 800-688-7692 or 314-576-1770, scensky@asaim.soy.org.
• Larry Mitchell is chief executive officer of the American Corn Growers Association. Read an Aug. 3, 2007, news release praising the House version of the bill. See the association’s farm bill page. Contact 202-835-0330, acga@acga.org.

RELIGIOUS

• The Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill includes several Christian denominations and groups, with Bread for the World taking a leading role. Other member organizations are the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, Church World Service, the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, and Oxfam America. Read the group’s legislative principles. Contacts include:

• The Rev. David Beckmann is president of Bread for the World, which advocates changes in the farm bill that would help fight hunger in the U.S. and abroad. Read his April 25, 2007, testimony before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Read a news release about the House farm bill vote. The group lists regional organizers. Contact 202-639-9400, dbeckmann@bread.org.
• H. Eric Schockman is president of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. The national nonprofit agency works against hunger in the United States and abroad. Contact Heather Wolfson, director of communications and development, 310-442-0020, mazonmail@mazon.org.
• Mark E. Graham is an assistant professor of moral theology at Villanova University, Villanova, Pa., and the author of Sustainable Agriculture: A Christian Ethic of Gratitude. Contact 610-519-4703, mark.graham@villanova.edu.
• The Rev. L. Shannon Jung is professor of town and country ministries at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo. He has written about rural ministry. His books include, as author, Sharing Food: Christian Practices for Enjoyment and, due out in 2008, World Hunger and the Complicity of the Affluent. Contact 816-245-4862, shannon.jung@spst.edu.

OTHER PLAYERS

• The Alliance for Sensible Agriculture Policies, which is working to reform U.S. farm policy with the farm bill, is a coalition of diverse groups that includes Citizens Against Government Waste, the National Taxpayers Union, the Cato Institute, Environmental Defense, Oxfam America and Bread for the World. Alliance contacts include:

• Ferd Hoefner is policy director of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, an alliance of several organizations. The coalition’s Farm Bill Action Center lists its 10 top priorities with the bill. Contact Hoefner, 202-547-5754, fhoefner@sustainableagriculturecoalition.org, or Aimee Witteman, communications and grass-roots outreach director, awitteman@sustainableagriculturecoalition.org (same phone number).
• Allen Hance is project coordinator of the Farm and Food Policy Project, which includes the Northeast Midwest Institute, World Hunger Year, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, American Farmland Trust, Environmental Defense and the Community Food Security Coalition. The project is endorsed by state groups. Read the report “Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy.” Contact 202-464-4015, news@farmandfoodproject.org.
• Bill Ayres is executive director of World Hunger Year, which works to battle poverty and hunger in the U.S. and abroad. It posts resources on the farm bill. Contact 212-629-8850, media@worldhungeryear.org.
• Tom Buis is president of the National Farmers Union. The NFU advocates changes in the farm bill. Read a July 20, 2007, news release praising the House-approved farm legislation. To link to state farmers unions, click “In the States” on the NFU Web site. Contact 202-554-1600, tbuis@nfudc.org.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

• Jill Auburn is director of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. It promotes farming systems that are “profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program.” Contact her in Washington, D.C., 202-720-5384, jauburn@csrees.usda.gov.
• Deborah Burd is executive director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture. Contact 845-361-5201, deb@sustainableagriculture.net.
• Melina Shannon-DiPietro is director of the Yale Sustainable Food Project at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. It supervises a sustainable dining program at Yale, manages an organic farm and sponsors programs on food and agriculture. It is a co-sponsor of the first Real Food Summit, scheduled for Nov. 3-4 at Yale, which expects to draw college students from the Northeast to discuss sustainable agriculture and social responsibility. Contact 203-432-2084.
• The Sustainable Agriculture Education Association is involved in post-secondary agriculture education. Its second national conference took place in July 2007 at Cornell University. Contact kscp@turbonet.com.
• Tom Tomich is director of the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program at the University of California-Davis. The program provides research and education about agriculture and food systems. Contact 530-752-2379, tptomich@ucdavis.edu.
• Mary Hendrickson is associate director of the Community Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture Program at the University of Missouri. Contact 573-882-5127, hendricksonm@missouri.edu.
• Jerry DeWitt is director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. Contact 515-294-7836, jdewitt@iastate.edu.
• Helene Murray is executive director of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. It is a partnership among the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, the University of Minnesota Extension and the Sustainers’ Coalition. Contact 612-625-0220, hmurray@umn.edu.

WRITERS

• Dan Imhoff is an author, publisher and farmer in California whose writings on farm and environmental issues include the 2007 book Food Fight: A Citizen’s Guide to the Farm Bill. Read an essay he wrote about the farm bill, posted by the Center for Ecoliteracy. Contact 707-431-2936, info@watershedmedia.org.
• Michael Pollan is Knight Professor of Journalism at University of California, Berkeley, where he directs the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism. His books include The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Read his April 22, 2007, New York Times column about the farm bill. Contact inquiries@michaelpollan.com.

• Jennifer Maiser edits the group blog EatLocalChallenge.com. Contact jen@lifebeginsat30.com.

STATE BY STATE

• The American Farm Bureau Federation links to state farm bureaus.
• The American Soybean Association lists state association presidents and state associate affiliate offices.
• The Farm and Food Policy Project includes state groups.
• To link to state farmers unions, click “In the States” on the National Farmers Union Web site.

Background

RESOURCES

• The University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program posts a page explaining what sustainable agriculture is and what issues are involved.

ARTICLES

• Read a Nov. 24, 2007, Religion News Service story that says hunger advocates are pushing for action on the Senate’s stalled farm bill. It’s posted by Beliefnet.
• Read a Nov. 5, 2007, op-ed in the Des Moines Register by Robert Gronski, policy coordinator for the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
• See an Oct. 25, 2007, Associate Press story about the Senate committee’s farm bill. It’s posted by Yahoo News.
• Eight states filed lawsuits against the Bush administration on Oct. 1 challenging new federal SCHIP rules. See an Oct. 2, 2007, Associated Press story posted by Newsday.
• Read a Sept. 28, 2007, Reuters article on religious and other leaders urging the Senate to take action promptly on the bill.
• Read a July 26, 2007, New York Times story about the House version of the farm bill.
• Read a July 26, 2007, Associated Baptist Press story.
• Read a July 28, 2007, Washington Post story about U.S. House passage of the farm bill.
• Read “Of Church and Steak: Farming for the Soul,” published Aug. 22, 2007, by the International Herald Tribune.
• Read an Aug. 12, 2007, La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune story, posted by Bread for the World.
• Read an Aug. 7, 2007, analysis by The Nation.
• Read an Aug. 6, 2007, analysis by National Journal’s CongressDaily, posted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
• Read “Religious Groups Push Farm Policy Reforms to Combat Poverty,” an analysis published July 17, 2007, by The Roundtable on Religion & Social Welfare Policy.
• Read the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ June 2007 resolution on agricultural reform.
• Read a June 20, 2007, Washington Post article about farm subsidies.

• Read a column by Morton Kondracke, executive editor of Roll Call, published April 27, 2007, by the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner. It describes the groups on opposing sides of the farm bill debate.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

• Hugh Joseph is an assistant professor, adjunct, at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Boston, and is project developer of the school’s New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. Read his July 9, 2007, Boston Globe column about the farm bill as an opportunity for “conscientious eaters.” Contact 617-636-3788, hugh.joseph@tufts.edu.
• Kelly D. Brownell is a psychology professor at Yale University, where he directs the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Contact 203-432-7790, kelly.brownell@yale.edu.
• John E. Carroll is a professor of environmental conservation at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, and his interests include spiritual and religious attitudes toward ecology. His books include, as author, Sustainability and Spirituality. Contact 603-862-3940, carroll@unh.edu.
• Christopher St. John directs the Maine Center for Economic Policy, which is calling for increases in the food stamp program. Read a June 4, 2007, news release. Contact 207-622-7381, mecep@mecep.org.
• Cynthia M. Duncan directs the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, Durham. The institute’s research includes poverty, rural families and communities, and the environment. She wrote Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America. Read a summer 2007 fact sheet on the farm bill and food stamp and school lunch programs. Contact 603-862-2821, mil.duncan@unh.edu.

IN THE EAST

• Bruce Gardner is a Distinguished University Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and specializes in agricultural policy. Contact 301-405-1271,bgardner@arec.md.edu.
• Barry L. Denk directs the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. Contact 717-787-9555, denkb@ruralpa.org.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• The Rev. C. Douglas Smith is executive director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, which has been working for reforms in the farm bill. The center lists its member religious organizations. Contact 804-643-2474, doug@virginiainterfaithcenter.org.
• Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., supports the current system of farm subsidies. He serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Contact 202-224-3521.
• Daniel Vestal, executive coordinator of the Atlanta-headquartered Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has been lobbying Congress about the farm bill for reforms aimed at helping rural areas and poor farmers. Read a July 20, 2007, news release. Contact 770-220-1610, dvestal@thefellowship.info.
• The Rev. T. DeWitt Smith Jr., senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church of Metro Atlanta, is president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The convention has been lobbying Congress to reform the farm bill to help rural areas and poor farmers. Contact 404-289-1387.
• Eva Clayton is a former Democratic congresswoman from North Carolina who is working with Bread for the World for change in the farm bill. Contact eva_clayton@yahoo.com.

IN THE SOUTH

• John C. Greer Jr. is chief executive officer of the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone Alliance Inc. in Itta Bena, Miss. Contact 662-254-9957, jgreerjr@mdeza.org.
• The Rev. L. LaSimba M. Gray Jr., pastor of New Sardis Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., has been lobbying Congress on behalf of Bread for the World for reforms in the farm bill. Contact 901-754-3979, newsardischurch@bellsouth.net.
• Daryll E. Ray is a professor and holds the Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He directs the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center. See a column on the farm bill that he wrote with Harwood Schaffer, research associate for the center. Contact 865-974-7407, dray@utk.edu or hdschaffer@utk.edu.

IN THE MIDWEST

• Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who manages his family’s farm, has been advocating reform of the farm subsidies program. Lugar serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Read a June 25, 2007, Indianapolis Star story, posted by Bread for the World. Contact 202-224-4814.
• Charles W. Fluharty, a graduate of Yale Divinity School, is president emeritus and director of policy programs at the Rural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Contact 573-882-0316, CFluharty@rupri.org.
• Arlin S. Wasserman is founder of the St. Paul-based consulting firm Changing Tastes, which counsels philanthropic organizations and food companies on agriculture and food trends. Contact 651- 698-1991, arlin@changingtastes.net.
• Tony Ends directs the Churches’ Center for Land and People, based in Middleton, Wis. Several Christian denominations and orders and other organizations sponsor it. Read Ends’ statement advocating reform in the subsidies program. Contact 608-831-9319, cclp@mwci.net.
• R. Dennis Olson is a senior policy analyst for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis, and he directs its trade and agriculture project. Read an institute report on the farm bill that includes recommendations to reform commodity programs. Contact 612-870-3412, dolson@iatp.org.
• Bill Webb edits Word & Way, an independent Baptist publication based in Jefferson City, Mo. Read his July 26, 2007, editorial in favor of farm bill reforms to assist struggling farmers and rural communities. Contact 573-635-5939 ext. 206, bwebb@wordandway.org.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• The Rev. Jeff Jaynes, pastor of Tulsa’s Southern Hills United Methodist Church, favors reforming the current U.S. farm subsidy program. Contact 918-743-2013, pastor@shumc-tulsa.com.
• Ronda Rutledge is executive director of the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, Texas, and favors reforming the commodity program and improving rural development and nutrition programs. Read an editorial she co-authored, published Aug. 15, 2007, by the Austin American-Statesman. Contact 512-236-0074, info@sustainablefoodcenter.org.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Daniel Sumner directs the University of California Agricultural Issues Center in Davis, Calif. Read a brief he wrote on the farm bill. The center posts other briefs and papers on the bill. Contact 530-752-1668, dasumner@ucdavis.edu.
• Stephen Devadoss is a professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology at the University of Idaho. Contact 208-885-6806, sdevadoss@uidaho.edu.
• Mechel “Mickey” Paggi directs the Center for Agricultural Business at California State University, Fresno. Contact 559-278-4405, mpaggi@csufresno.edu.