For a piece of legislation with such an innocuous-sounding name, the U.S. Farm Bill sure causes a lot of damage. The Farm Bill impacts food prices and the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in developing countries worldwide. From its guidelines on subsidies to its approach to food aid, this piece of domestic legislation is causing quite a lot of trouble overseas.
For example: after the earthquake in 2010, Haitian rice farmers found themselves in a losing competition with free U.S. rice distributed as food aid. And several years ago, U.S. subsidies for biofuels helped send the price of corn soaring, contributing to a global food crisis in 2008 that left 100 million more people hungry.
In fact, policies in the Farm Bill impact nearly all of the grassroots NGOs and local communities that AJWS works with in developing countries. And unfortunately, they can’t do a thing about it.
But we can.
The Farm Bill is up for revision in 2012, and we have the power to reform it for the better.
I’ll be reaching out to you in the coming months to tell you more about ways to take action. In the meantime, visit our advocacy page to learn more and consider participating in Global Hunger Shabbat, in November.
AJWS’s work in countries and communities changes over time, responding to the evolving needs of partner organizations and the people they serve. To learn where AJWS is supporting activists and social justice movements today, please see Where We Work.