Press Release – Fair Farm Bill Rally Thursday

From a Food and Water Watch press release….

West Michigan Rallies to Demand Stabenow’s Support for Michigan’s Small Farmers

Grand Rapids, MI—Citizens from Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids will be gathering in Grand Rapids on Thursday November 3^rd to ask Senator Debbie Stabenow to support the Fair Farm Rules and Michigan’s small farmers. The rules would significantly level the playing field for small and midsized livestock farmers, yet Senator Stabenow, the Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has yet to take a stand on the issue. In the past two months, community members in Grand Rapids & Kalamazoo have gathered over 2,500 postcards urging Senator Stabenow to support the Fair Farm Rules.

Nationally, nearly 27,000 midsize independent family farms have been driven out of business over the past five years, and those remaining are squeezed by a market that favors big agribusinesses. The 2008 Farm Bill included new reforms to protect small and midsize livestock farmers, but those reforms are being blocked by a handful of large companies that dominate the meat and poultry industries. Local leaders are publicly calling Senator Stabenow to lead on this issue and stand up for Michigan’s small farmers.

Where:  Calder Plaza, Grand Rapids, MI

When: 4:10 PM on Thursday November 3^rd

Who: Sheri Rop, Owner, Nourish Organic Market

Cynthia Price, Chair, Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council

Andrea Villarreal, Kalamazoo educator

Jane Wiedenbeck and Charlotte Bartter, Field Organizers, Food and Water Watch

VISUALS: Great visuals including a 6 ft. tall plywood rooster, volunteers in cow suits, an oversized (3’x4’) representative petition as well as a large group of citizens holding large, colorful posters and a petition chicken.

Background: The Fair Farm Rules, or GIPSA rules, prevent meatpackers from giving “undue preference” to large producers, like factory farms, which put small independent producers at an economic disadvantage. The new rules would:

• Stop price premiums and secret preferential contracts granted to cattle and hog factory farms.
• Prevent one buyer from representing multiple meatpackers at an auction. This practice effectively eliminates competitive bidding on livestock, which hurts small-scale producers.
• Prohibit retaliation against poultry growers who speak out about abuses.
• Protects poultry growers who make expensive upgrades and investments and prevents companies from requiring growers to make expensive upgrades to their facilities if they are in working order

Consumers lose out as small and midsize farmers are pushed out of business. They are left with fewer healthy sustainable choices and more antibiotic and artificial hormone-ridden meat and poultry. Senator Stabenow not taken a side on the issue at hand, and has not publicly advocated for their implementation or asked President Obama to expedite their approval.