Background on the 2007 Farm Bill by the Department of Social Development and World Peace Office of Domestic Social Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Hill Notes on the 2007 Farm Bill by the Department of Social Development and World Peace Office of Domestic Social Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
As Congress begins the work of reauthorizing the U.S. farm bill, more than a dozen Churches and faith-based organizations have come together as the Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill to urge major changes in U.S. agricultural policy aimed at reducing hunger and poverty, and promoting the livelihood of farmers and rural communities, in the U.S. and around the world.
Religious Groups Advocate Farm Bill Reforms - Church leaders urge Congress: Reform Farm Bill to Reflect American Values
Passing a new farm bill is an important opportunity to reshape our agricultural policies to build a more just framework that better serves rural communities and vulnerable farmers in the U.S., overcomes hunger here and abroad, and helps poor farmers and their families in developing countries. - Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops' Domestic Policy Committee.
The U.S. bishops, with partners National Catholic Rural Life
Conference, Catholic Charities
USA, and Catholic Relief Services, will work towards policy priorities for the 2007 Farm Bill including:
Increasing investments that combat rural poverty and strengthen rural communities
Strengthening and expanding programs that reduce hunger and improve nutrition in the United States
Strengthening and increasing investment in policies that promote conservation and good stewardship of the land
Providing transitions for farmers to alternative forms of support that are more equitable and do not distort trade in ways that fuel hunger and poverty
Protecting the health and safety of farmworkers
Expanding research related to alternative and renewable forms of energy
Providing direct food aid efficiently and effectively to hungry people in other nations
NETWORK: "Our faith calls us to participate in the social and political decisions that affect our lives. Food and farm policy affects all of our lives. But in the past, groups who participated in forming food and farm policy in the U.S. represented mostly the special interests of large food producers. This time, members of Congress need to hear from people of faith who believe that food and farm policy must be based on values of fairness, care for people who are poor, care for earth, and the common good of local and global communities."