 |
 |
May
22, 2007 9:41 AM, By Forrest Laws
Farm Press Editorial Staff
It
didn’t take long for the “honeymoon” between the chairman of
the House Agriculture Committee and his counterpart on the Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry to hit its first bump in the road.
Rep.
Collin Peterson and Sen. Tom Harkin, who hail from the neighboring states of
Minnesota and Iowa, have been meeting weekly to discuss the 2007 farm bill the
panels they chair must write before the current law, the 2002 farm bill,
expires Sept. 30.
By all
accounts, the two were getting along famously until the House Agriculture
Committee released its draft of the farm bill conservation title its
Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research was scheduled to
begin “marking up” on May 22.
Before
Peterson could announce the schedule for the subcommittee markups during a
press briefing on May 17, Harkin released a statement criticizing the draft
title for not providing enough funding for conservation programs.
“The
2002 farm bill provided the greatest expansion of conservation funding in
history,” Harkin said. “Yet the promised conservation initiatives
— expanding EQIP, creating the Conservation Security Program, continuing
to expand acres protected in the WRP — were denied because funding was
cut in subsequent legislation.”
Harkin
said the new House bill “perpetuates” the damage to conservation
and the environment caused by the previous two Congresses and the Bush
administration by not providing the conservation funding farmers need.
Peterson
tried to downplay Harkin’s displeasure with the House conservation plan,
saying he had discussed the House proposal with the Senate ag committee
chairman and that he knew the latter was not pleased.
He
conceded that the bill does not provide funding for the Conservation Security
Program at the “level Sen. Harkin wants, and there won’t be money
for any new contracts for a while.” (Under the draft language in the
House bill, the Conservation Security Program would not be re-authorized until
the 2012 fiscal year.)
“But
the important thing is the program is still there,” he said. “What
you’re going to see in this mark is a reflection of what the priorities
of this committee are. We put together in the 2002 bill, a good conservation
title, and it worked. The programs are up and running, everyone is behind them,
and we want to build on that.”
The
Conservation Security Program, in contrast, came out of the Senate and was not
debated in the House Agriculture Committee. (Harkin, the author of the CSP,
added it in the House-Senate conference committee on the 2002 farm bill.)
“It’s
had its fits and starts,” he said. “So I would have to say these
other, proven programs are a higher priority with this committee. We also think
significant changes are needed — the CSP is too complicated, we’re
not exactly sure the priorities are set up the right way and we will be
focusing on making the program more effective going forward.”
Peterson
said the markup session by the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and
Research scheduled for May 22 was to be followed by a similar session for the
Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry on May 24.
The
markup sessions will continue for other farm bill titles in June, following the
Memorial Day recess. The full committee will then review the titles and hopes
to report out a farm bill by July 4.
“We
are beginning a bipartisan, open and public process to create a farm bill that
will address the changing landscape of our nation’s agricultural
economy,” said Peterson. “We understand how important it is for
farmers, ranchers and consumers that we all work together and get this farm
policy right.”
The House
ag committee is taking a different approach this year by allowing its
subcommittees to conduct markup sessions before receiving the
“chairman’s mark” of the new farm bill. In the past, the
latter has allowed the committee chairman to put his stamp on the new law early
in the process.
Peterson
said the media had overplayed his earlier comments that the committee would not
accept any farm bill proposals unless a member of the agriculture committee
introduced them.
“I
did not mean to imply that this was a closed process,” he said.
“Other House members, of course, will be able to introduce amendments
when the bill reaches the floor. It’s just that we deal with these issues
all the time, and we feel that we’re more familiar with them.”
Peterson
appeared at the press briefing with Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., ranking minority
member on the ag committee, and with Rep. Tim Holden, D-Penn., chairman of the
Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research Subcommittee, and Rep. Frank Lucas,
R-Okla., its ranking member.
Both the
chairman and ranking member said dealing with the money issue will be the
biggest challenge committee members will face. Because the 2002 law has not
cost as much as was expected, the committee has $60 billion less to work with
than it did prior to writing it.
“Some
things will have to be funded out of the reserve fund in the budget resolution
and will be contingent on our finding offsets in the budget,” said
Peterson. “But we’re working with our leaders and the Budget
Committee to try to resolve those problems.”
Goodlatte
noted that the Bush administration’s budget would increase farm bill
funding by $5 billion. “That $5 billion is certainly not $60 billion, but
we’re not asking for the $60 billion. We’re simply asking for
enough money to address conservation issues and a host of other issues for
which there are not enough resources.
“This
is a fiscally responsible thing we’re asking for because we have saved
the taxpayers of this country $60 billion over the last farm bill. We’re
just asking for a small portion of that, quite frankly, to be allowed to be
used to further efforts to help rural America.”
“Most
of us on the committee have a farm background, and we’re just like
farmers,” said Peterson. “We put seeds in the ground. We
don’t have any idea what will happen, but farmers are born optimists, and
I’m optimistic we can produce a good bill.”
In other
farm bill news, the House and Senate voted to approve a fiscal year 2008 budget
that aims to produce a budget surplus by 2012 and contains a $20-billion
reserve fund for the 2007 farm bill.
The
Senate passed the budget plan 52-40 and the House, 214-209. Authors of the
bill, including Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said it contains no tax increases,
but Republicans claimed it would produce the largest tax increase in history,
primarily by not continuing the Republican-passed tax cuts of the last six
years.
The House
Agriculture Committee also passed three measures that will be sent to the House
floor.
H. Con.
Res. 25 expresses the sense of Congress that by the year 2025, America’s
agricultural, forestry, and working lands should provide at least 25 percent of
the total energy consumed in the United States through renewable sources while
continuing to produce safe, abundant, and affordable food, feed, and fiber.
H.R. 926,
introduced by House Agriculture Committee members Stephanie Herseth Sandlin,
D-S.D., and Goodlatte, would prohibit the provision of federal economic
development assistance for any state or locality that uses the power of eminent
domain to obtain property for private commercial development.
H. Res.
79 would recognize the establishment of Hunters for the Hungry programs across
the United States and the contributions of those programs’ efforts to
decrease hunger and help feed those in need.
Oran
Hesterman, president and CEO of the Fair Food Foundation.
Up to $20 million per year will fund fair food effort
A new,
nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing fresh, locally produced and
sustainably-grown food to southeast Michigan will be setting up shop in
downtown Ann Arbor.
The Fair
Food Foundation is expected to award annual grants worth between $12 million
and $20 million per year starting in 2008.
The goal,
leaders said, is to redesign a food supply system that has left urban
populations with little access to fresh food.
"The food system, for many, is broken," said Oran Hesterman, program
director of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food and Society Initiative who will
serve as the Fresh Food Foundation's president and CEO.
Offices
for the foundation will be located on Main Street, above Vinology Restarurant,
in the third floor quarters temporarily occupied by Google until their move to
the McKinley Towne Centre.
While the nonprofit will move into the 3,500-square-foot space by July 1, it
won't begin operations until Jan. 1, 2008. Between 20 to 25 workers are
expected to occupy the office once it's fully operational.
Eventually,
foundation officials plan to buy and operate an organic farm in the Ann Arbor
area and run the organization from an office in Detroit, Hesterman said.
An
unidentified Michigan family is funding the private foundation, which is
expected to be the largest private non-profit in the country whose sole focus
is on a sustainable and equitable food system, Hesterman said.
"The
foundation is being started by a very generous family of considerable wealth
who wants to focus their philanthropy in the area of fair food," Hesterman
said. They will be the sole supporters of the foundation.
Hesterman
said the food system serves people who have the ability to pay for the food
where it shows up: stores, farmers markets or restaurants.
"We
will focus on the urban and rural food systems so people will have greater
access to healthy, local, fresh food," said Nicole de Beaufort, acting
director of communications for the foundation. "... For a lot of kids
growing up in these areas, they go to the gas station for their food. There's
no fresh food there, just plenty of Cheetos."
At the
same time, the foundation will focus on more sustainable agriculture, Hesterman
said. They will address issues such as pollution, fertilizer run off and the
disappearance of the family farm.
"We
want to redesign the food system with a focus on all of these people," he
said. The foundation will work in diverse areas, from public policy to research
and education, Hesterman added.
Hesterman,
who lives in Ann Arbor, is a long-time leader in sustainable agriculture and
has published extensively about the food system. He worked with the governor's
office to develop the Michigan Food Policy Council.
The office deal was brokered by Mike Giraud and Jeff
Harshe of Colliers International. The building is owned by Greg Lobdell and
restaurateur Jon Carlson.
9. The Day Without Farm Workers
by David Mas Masumoto,
Land Institute’s Prairie Writers Circle, Salina, Kan.
Last year
for one day, no one came to work in my peach orchard. A row of ladders stood
empty. This was my day without immigrant labor.Without workers, I cannot farm.
If I cannot farm, my organic heirloom peaches and raisins won’t reach
people’s dinner tables.
Without
passage of immigration reform, I can’t get enough help to harvest my
fruits. This work is transient and something most Americans won’t do,
even with higher wages. Under the current system, which gives so many
immigrants illegal status, good workers from south of the border are forced to
hide in the shadows, constantly fearful of deportation.
As the
debate over undocumented workers unfolds, the growing of food seems to be left
out. This debate isn’t just about citizenship. It’s also about who
works the fields and how crops are grown. And it’s about working
conditions and treating workers fairly — something that I and other small
farmers try to do as we labor side by side with our workers.
Immigration
reform needs to grant some form of legal status to the nearly 2 million illegal
workers on farms and acknowledge their contribution to the farm economy and
rural communities. At the very least, we should grant undocumented workers a
guest worker status, ensuring fair treatment for their hard work.
Specialty
fruits and vegetables depend on these hands. Now more than ever, a labor
shortage threatens these crops.
I almost
lost my raisin crop two years ago. Last year, pear farmers in Northern
California were forced to let fruit rot on trees because there were not enough
workers. I try to ripen my peaches to perfection, but lose many when I
can’t get pickers; some of my best fruits fall from my trees.
Without
labor, agriculture will mechanize the process as much as possible, substituting
technology and capital for people on the land. This shift is not simply about
the invention of a machine, but rather a dramatic change in how things are
grown. It means rewarding plant breeders not for great flavor, but instead for
fruit that works with machines.
I can
imagine the ideal machined peaches of the future. Design them so they will
simultaneously ripen. (My crews revisit a single tree four to five times,
picking only what is ripe at the moment.) Breed a peach with a stem that snaps
easily, so a tree can be shaken by a machine. Manufacture fruit that
won’t bruise when harvested, picked rock hard to survive a handless
system.
But there
is no technology that can replace the human touch without sacrificing good
taste.
Sustainable
and organic fruit farming demands constant attention and response to nature
each season: Our systems are labor intensive. I need the human element on my
farm.
Farming
is an inexact science. There’s an art to pruning and growing a perfect
peach that requires years of practice and many hands. Without workers,
I’ll have no choice but to farm differently: The politics of undocumented
immigrants can change the flavor on my farm.
But
agriculture is morally wrong if the sole goal is to create a new pipeline of
cheap labor. Farmers must acknowledge the value of the people in their fields.
Undocumented
workers have labored like ghosts — invisible, hidden, secluded.
Immigration reform would shed light on them, revealing their worth.
As these
new Americans are recognized, wages, working conditions and health benefits
must be addressed. This will challenge farmers and the old ways of doing
business. Agriculture has openly acknowledged the need for labor: We also must
accept responsibility for these workers.
I farm
with a social contract — a network of honorable, mutually supporting relationships
that contribute to the quality I seek. My work can’t be done by machines.
I want to grow “face food,” produce with faces and their stories,
keeping alive the legacy of good, authentic food.
Undocumented
workers are part of this food system. We all have a stake in immigration
reform, and the need to recognize the important role of all food workers. We
need to support farming that contributes true flavors to life.
Farmer David Mas Masumoto of Fresno,
Calif., is a Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellow. He has written
several books, including “Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm.” He wrote this comment for the Land
Institute’s Prairie Writers Circle, Salina, Kan.
10. If you
seeking Sustainable Bags for your customers or program…
We have a local company,
which does screen printing, trophy's, hats, etc.
CREATIVE CONCEPTS, Mark
Bivins, owner, 616 866 1470, www.plaquesandengraving.com
Good luck, and if you
need any other info, or assistance, please let me know.
Dick Johnston, Utilities
Director
City of Rockford
P.O. Box 561
7 South Monroe
Rockford, Michigan
49341-0561
Ph: 616 - 866 -1537
Fax: 616 - 866 –
6406
OR
another option is….
Eat Local Foods LLC BASED in
Wyandotte, MI offers reusable bags that are made in the
USA. There is always a tag inside the bag that will tell you where it was
made. We believe that if we are encouraging consumers to buy local food,
we shouldn't do it with products that are made in China.
At Eat Local Food, we offer reusable, fine art canvas tote bags that can be
customized for your farmers market.
As a member of MiFMA (Michigan Farmers Market Association), you will
receive a 10% discount on your orders with us. We are located in
Wyandotte, and all of our products are reusable, functional, customizable and
made in the USA.
The price of our bags depends on the quantity ordered, but they
typically cost $9.00 to $11.25 per bag (including customization) and they
retail for $17.00-$18.00. Yes, they are a bit more expensive because they
are made in the USA with cotton grown in the USA.
Thanks for the opportunity to add my 2 cents,
Joan Tobin
Eat Local Food LLC
637 Emmons Blvd.
Wyandotte, MI 48192
www.eatlocalfood.com
check out their beautiful vegetable and fruit art work perfect for your market
place.
(734) 341-7028
OR
If you
are seeking bags made from recycled materials...
One Bag
at a Time http://www.1bagatatime.com/Aboutourbags.html
offers
washable, screenable bags made from recycled materials
Each bag holds the equivalent
load of 3-4 plastic bags or 2 paper bags. Call: 1 Bag
at a Time at 310-441-7300
Email:
[log in to unmask]
Smail: 1 Bag
at a Time
10700 Santa Monica Blvd.
Unit 7
Los Angeles, CA 90025
For
single use bags made of recycled materials…
Because
several people on this list indicated their interest in finding and using
biodegradable bags at the market, Laura Kassenbrock, an MSU graduate student working
in our office this summer, contacted several sources to request price and
ordering information. Here is a summary of what she found:
Biodegradable produce bags
$37/case (2 rolls of 1000 bags/roll)
Also carries other environmentally friendly food/restaurant carry-out products
Steve Harworth
Recy-Clean Services/Michigan Green Safe Products
[log in to unmask]"
title="https://mail.msu.edu/cgi-bin/webmail/login/kassenbr.authdaemon/0F2A83BC6249696A74C45FACF923E464/1179869961?folder=CARRS&form=newmsg&[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
313-871-4000 office
313-471-5329 fax
313-647-2903 cell
***
EcoFilm 3 gallon produce bags
$.12/bag for 100 bags. Call to negotiate pricing for larger quantities
Brad Price
Simply Biodegradable
[log in to unmask]
509-764-0233 office
509-910-1430 cell
***
Compostable shopping bag
$55 for 400 bags
Also carries other environmentally friendly food/restaurant carry-out products
Discounts for purchasing over 1000 bags
Green Home
[log in to unmask]
415-282-6400 office
***
2.5 gallon produce bag
10 bags/box, $115 for 96 boxes
Offers a variety of bag types and sizes
Mattew Penrose
Cereplast, Inc.
[log in to unmask]
212-925-8969 cell
Vicki Morrone
Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist
Michigan State University
C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems
303 Natural Resources Bldg.
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-353-3542
517-282-3557 (cell)
517-353-3834 (fax)
http://www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu/
http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/
