1. TAKE ACTION: SUPPORT THE CONSERVATION SECURITY PROGRAM! Thanks to the efforts of rural activists around the country, the Conservation Security Program became law with the passage of the 2002 Farm Bill. Now begins the process of ensuring that the Agriculture Department implements this innovative program in a way that will help both the environment and farmers. On February 18, 2003, the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) asked for general public input on the program, in the form of an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The deadline for receipt of comments is March 20th. The Notice seeks input on 15 fairly specific issues relating to the CSP, but the NRCS will also accept comments on any aspect of the program. Visit www.familyfarmer.org for a sample letter and instructions on how to comment. This is a significant opportunity for supporters of the CSP to send the message loud and clear: We want a full and quickly implemented Conservation Security Program! CSP holds great promise for rewarding farmers based on how they are protecting and improving the environment. 2. GEE WHIZ! IT TASTES BETTER, TOO? In a zoo in the north of Europe, keepers started feeding animals organic food. After tasting the organic fare the zoo's residents found they preferred organic over chemically raised food. According to a report in "Ecological Agriculture", monkeys at the Copenhagen Zoo are "going ape" over organic bananas and other fruits, rejecting non-organic foods left in their cages. Apparently the Danish zoo is striving for a "green label" which means that its purchases support agriculture produced in ways that benefit the environment. It's not just the Chimps who are apes over organics, the tapirs apparently prefer the fruit, too. According to zoo-keeper Niels Jordburg the animals "are able to tell the difference between the organic and the regular fruit. If we give them organic and traditional bananas, they systematically choose the organic bananas, which they eat with the skin on. But they peel the traditional bananas before eating them." Gee, ya think it's because organic tastes better? See: www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/bananas022403.cfm 3. CALIFORNIA RESTRICTS FRANKENFISH The California Department of Fish and Game announced last week that it would adopt regulations prohibiting anyone from importing, possessing, transporting or producing transgenic aquatic animals in California unless they are granted a permit issued by the Department. The measure, designed to protect California's wild fisheries and native wildlife from threats from escaped bioengineered fish, was crafted with input from National Resource Defense Council, The Ocean Conservancy, University of California, and the California Aquaculture Association. "In the near future, the only permits for transgenic aquatic species that we foresee being granted are for ongoing research related to human health in which researchers are already working under federal permits that meet or exceed our restrictions," said a spokesperson for the Department. "It will undoubtedly be a while before the Department will need to consider any application for transgenics that would be unrelated to research." The Department's press release is available at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/news03/03016.html 4. THE RICH GET RICHER: NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE In Mexico thousands of small farmers are facing bankruptcy because of Free Trade rules that disallow farm subsidies. Under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), US and Mexican trade leaders have resolved that subsidies for farmers need to be phased out to better permit so-called "free trade." But over the last few months campesinos from all across Mexico turned out in force to protest the coming elimination of the subsidies. They see themselves headed for ruin as the country's long standing system of price supports is eliminated. In response Mexico's president Vicente Fox promised a new $1.3 Billion subsidy for Mexican farmers. Unfortunately, just like in the United States, the way the subsidy system is set up the largest farmers will reap the lions share of these subsidies. Making matters worse, this temporary fix will continue to fuel overproduction and oversupply ensuring the market, and farmers prices will stay depressed for a long, long time. For an expose of this situation from a free trader's perspective, see the Wall Street Journal at: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB104681924175461960,00.html If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this list,
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3/7/03