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Tell the Senate to Support Food Aid That Helps, Not Hurts

Target: US Senate
Sponsored by: Grassroots International and the Oakland Institute

Real aid should build communities up, not tear them down. Sadly, the current US food aid system sometimes hurts more than it helps.

When cheap food mostly purchased from US agribusinesses is dumped at below market costs in hunger-stricken countries, it drives local farmers off the land and out of work.

We need to change the current system that hurts small farmers' livelihoods at home and abroad, creates food aid dependency and only really helps the giant agribusinesses that serve as middle men for the deals.

Fortunately, the Senate is drafting language in the 2007 Farm Bill for a pilot program to purchase food from local and regional farmers in times of food crisis, which would help local farmers feed their families and communities and promote sustainable agricultural practices.

Tell the Senate to support cash for local and regional purchases of food aid!

deadline: 10-1-2008
goal: 5,000

11,374
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Dear Senator,

I am writing you today because I am concerned about recurring food crises in many countries and how U.S. resources and policies can best be mobilized to confront these situations.

According to recent estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization, there are 850 million people in the developing world suffering from hunger. Just as the causes of hunger and recurring food crises are complex, I see the need for a complementary set of policies to stimulate the production of food around the world.

As you continue your discussions of the U.S. Farm Bill, I am asking you to:

Support local and regional purchases of food aid. Our current programs are outdated. The U.S. government no longer holds excess food stocks, and food aid is too small a percentage of total productions or exports to directly affect domestic farmgate prices or the interests of American farmers. The current system of shipping US commodities to countries experiencing food shortages is enormously inefficient, raising the cost of food between 30 and 50 percent over the cost of purchasing food nearby.

In general, I support an increase in the authority to purchase food aid stocks at the local or regional level. This would enable food aid providers the ability to purchase food in the same or neighboring countries, and to deliver it quickly.

Increase funding for food aid and agricultural development strategies designed to reduce hunger. Over the past few decades, agricultural development funding has prioritized commercial agriculture and the promotion of cash crops for export. While I recognize the importance of exports for economic growth, too often these policies have undermined the developing country farmers' ability to feed their families and their communities. I support increased funding for agencies such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development that concentrate on improving developing country farmers' ability to feed their nations and to promote sustainable agricultural practices.

Access to food is an essential human right, recognized under the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The U.S. is a signatory to the ICESCR. While it has not ratified the treaty, I believe it should still be guided by the principles enshrined within it and seek "to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need."

I hope the coming debates on U.S. agricultural policy and the Farm Bill will be guided by this essential principle.

[Your comment]

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]

We signed the “Tell the Senate to Support Food Aid That Helps, Not Hurts” petition!

# 150:

4:26 am PDT, Oct 5, Diane Campion, Florida

# 149:

4:25 am PDT, Oct 5, Debbie Reynolds, Indiana

# 148:

4:25 am PDT, Oct 5, Christine Witman, Pennsylvania

# 147:

4:25 am PDT, Oct 5, Emilia Lausz, Pennsylvania

# 146:

4:23 am PDT, Oct 5, Tristan Fallis, Montana

# 145:

4:18 am PDT, Oct 5, Michele Gielis, Massachusetts

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4:00 am PDT, Oct 5, Name not displayed, Pennsylvania

# 143:

3:49 am PDT, Oct 5, Clara Rutherford, Missouri

# 142:

3:43 am PDT, Oct 5, Jennifer Hall, Tennessee

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3:42 am PDT, Oct 5, Marjory Cahill-Shelton, Florida

# 140:

3:26 am PDT, Oct 5, Helen Hirst, Australia

# 139:

3:24 am PDT, Oct 5, Sonya Dobson, United Kingdom

# 138:

3:16 am PDT, Oct 5, Elizabeth English, Florida

# 137:

3:09 am PDT, Oct 5, Carol Denson, Texas

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3:07 am PDT, Oct 5, Kim Ireland, New Zealand

# 135:

2:56 am PDT, Oct 5, Sofia Santos, Spain

# 134:

2:56 am PDT, Oct 5, L. Rasheed, New York

# 133:

2:56 am PDT, Oct 5, Ali Boraby, Ohio

# 132:

2:54 am PDT, Oct 5, Dogan Ozkan, Turkey

# 131:

2:50 am PDT, Oct 5, Name not displayed, Missouri

# 130:

2:50 am PDT, Oct 5, Toni King, Georgia

# 129:

2:50 am PDT, Oct 5, Lil Red Rachel Nadeau, Texas

# 128:

2:47 am PDT, Oct 5, Chiranjeevi Kantheti, India

# 127:

2:36 am PDT, Oct 5, Name not displayed, Australia

# 126:

2:35 am PDT, Oct 5, Barbara Miller, New Jersey

# 125:

2:28 am PDT, Oct 5, Name not displayed, South Carolina

# 124:

2:21 am PDT, Oct 5, Valerie Martinelli, California
Please don't hurt the farmers while trying to help! Giving cash instead of food will help the countries own food suppliers to maintain their employment while allowing those in need the finances to purchase food from them. Sending food is only adding to the problem by taking away lively hoods from those who are farmers and soon they will also be in need of aid.

# 123:

2:15 am PDT, Oct 5, Margaret Baylor, Florida

# 122:

2:05 am PDT, Oct 5, Auburn Monat, California

# 121:

2:04 am PDT, Oct 5, Carol Leonard, Tennessee

# 120:

2:02 am PDT, Oct 5, Ann Simpson, West Virginia

# 119:

2:00 am PDT, Oct 5, B.E Meadows, Tennessee
Support Food Aid That Helps, Not Hurts

# 118:

1:51 am PDT, Oct 5, Olaya Garcia, Spain

# 117:

1:44 am PDT, Oct 5, Jason J Green, Virginia

# 116:

1:37 am PDT, Oct 5, Aimee Valle, Ohio

# 115:

1:36 am PDT, Oct 5, Name not displayed, Oregon

# 114:

1:32 am PDT, Oct 5, Octavian Paul Draja, Romania

# 113:

1:32 am PDT, Oct 5, Esther Scerri, Malta

# 112:

1:32 am PDT, Oct 5, Name not displayed, Australia

# 111:

1:28 am PDT, Oct 5, BiLL Fowlie, Maine

# 110:

1:27 am PDT, Oct 5, Timothy Bruck, Ohio

# 109:

1:25 am PDT, Oct 5, Cathryne Doughty, United Kingdom

# 108:

1:21 am PDT, Oct 5, Duncan Reilly, Australia

# 107:

1:19 am PDT, Oct 5, Kay Stanley, Missouri

# 106:

1:14 am PDT, Oct 5, Lisa Francia, North Carolina

# 105:

1:13 am PDT, Oct 5, Debbie J Pruiett, Georgia

# 104:

1:13 am PDT, Oct 5, Jennifer Cribbs, Ohio

# 103:

1:12 am PDT, Oct 5, Paula Zerzan, California

# 102:

1:08 am PDT, Oct 5, Rhonda Lawford, Illinois

# 101:

1:08 am PDT, Oct 5, Cosmic Rhino Gifts, California

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Tell the Senate to Support Food Aid That Helps, Not Hurts

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