[Peace-discuss] Tell Congress: Protect food stamps and family farms

Tue Jun 26 23:48:06 UTC 2012

Funny & awful.

On Jun 26, 2012, at 3:41 PM, E. Wayne Johnson wrote:

> Perhaps one of the most evil things that the US Government has done  
> is to redirect foodstuffs
> from the mouths of poor people to the maw of transportation.  The  
> production of "biofuels" is
> an example of the Stupidity of Evil.  As planned, the diversion of  
> food to automobile fuels has
> raised food prices worldwide, and put more pressure on the poor and  
> hungry.
>
> It's hard for people to be happy when they are hungry.
> They tend to get angry.
>
> Oh, you're hungry?  Your poor wittle bewwy is empty?
> How about some Gasohol soup?  Oh, baby doesnt like Gasohol soup?
> How about some nice Biodiesel, you ungrateful little twerp?
>
> Biofuels for your tank.
> America needs more tanks.
> Tanks a lot.  Tanks but no tanks.
>
> "you know where to put the cork"
>
>
>
> On 6/27/2012 3:04 AM, Jenifer Cartwright wrote:
>>
>> Pls sign, then forward widely to yr family and friends. Color of  
>> Change gets results!
>>
>> --- On Tue, 6/26/12, Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org <info at colorofchange.org 
>> > wrote:
>>
>> Why is Congress cutting food stamps while funding Big Agribusiness?
>>
>>
>> Demand a Farm Bill that protects critical nutritional assistance  
>> programs and livelihoods for Black family farmers.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear Jenifer,
>>
>> Congress is poised to both cut food stamps for nearly half a  
>> million recipients and cripple a program that assists Black family  
>> farmers. And while it's slashing these essential programs that help  
>> regular folks make ends meet, our Representatives are bending over  
>> backwards to protect billions in wasteful subsidies for Big  
>> Agribusiness.1,2
>>
>> In light of the ongoing economic crisis — including stubbornly  
>> high rates of joblessness and food insecurity — it's imperative  
>> that healthy food, hungry people and struggling family farmers come  
>> first. But time is running out to make our voices heard: the House  
>> Ag Committee is now deliberating the text of the 2012 Farm Bill,  
>> the omnibus legislation that will dictate our agriculture and  
>> nutrition policy for the next five years.
>>
>> The Farm Bill has already suffered major cuts to crucial programs  
>> in the Senate.3 Amending the bill now before it passes out of the  
>> House committee is crucial to ensuring that our families — on the  
>> farm and off — will continue to be able to put enough food on the  
>> table even in the toughest of times. Please urge Congress to  
>> protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and safeguard  
>> livelihoods for Black family farmers. It only takes a moment:
>>
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/farmbill_house/
>>
>> The Farm Bill was created over 60 years ago to help the country  
>> recover from the Great Depression, and to ensure that farmers could  
>> survive and people wouldn't go hungry. And that remains its primary  
>> purpose. The last Farm Bill was passed in 2008 and is set to expire  
>> in September of this year.
>>
>> Ensuring food security for all
>>
>> The largest expenditure in the Farm Bill funds the Supplemental  
>> Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps,  
>> which helps hungry families buy groceries, provides a market for  
>> small farmers, and boosts local economies in some of the most  
>> depressed regions of our country. Put plainly, SNAP is key to  
>> ensuring food security for millions of Americans who are struggling.
>>
>> 46 million people, or more than one in seven Americans, have signed  
>> up for SNAP so far in 2012 — which is in keeping with the  
>> percentage of the U.S. workforce experiencing unemployment or  
>> underemployment.4 Of that number, 22.5% are Black folks,5 with as  
>> many as 9 in 10 Black children receiving food stamps before  
>> reaching the age of 20.6 Yet, in spite of the staggering levels of  
>> American poverty and hunger these numbers represent, proposals  
>> continually roll in to eviscerate SNAP, a vital element of our  
>> rapidly-fraying social safety net.
>>
>> And SNAP isn't just necessary to make sure that no one goes hungry  
>> — the program also reliably generates significant economic growth.  
>> For every dollar invested in the food stamp program, $1.71 is  
>> pumped back into the economy, helping to pay the wages of  
>> producers, grocers, truck drivers, and any number of other people  
>> who help move our food from farm to table.7 In this way, SNAP is  
>> key to the economic stability of some of our poorest states.
>>
>> Preserving livelihoods for Black family farmers
>>
>> Protecting access to healthy and affordable food through SNAP is  
>> only half the battle. Also on the chopping block is a program  
>> dedicated to redressing the generations of disparate land loss  
>> experienced by so-called "socially disadvantaged" producers —  
>> meaning Black, Latino, Native American, and other minority farmers  
>> and ranchers historically discriminated against by the US  
>> Department of Agriculture.
>>
>> For decades, USDA officials systematically denied Black farmers  
>> loans and subsidies that they routinely made available to white  
>> farmers.8 At best, this state-sponsored discrimination retarded the  
>> growth of many Black farms, but in practice it resulted in many  
>> simply going under — causing devastating losses of land, income,  
>> and intergenerational vocational knowledge. In 1920, Blacks made up  
>> about 15 percent of the nation's farmers, but today that number is  
>> just one percent.9
>>
>> The Farm Bill's 2501 program exists to ensure that today, minority  
>> producers have opportunities to successfully acquire, own, operate  
>> and retain farms and ranches despite the USDA's history of neglect  
>> and abuse. Specifically, 2501 seeks to guarantee that socially  
>> disadvantaged producers equitably participate in all USDA programs,  
>> through the provision of targeted financial and technical  
>> assistance. Yet the current version of the Farm Bill would decimate  
>> 2501, significantly slashing the program's funding and making it  
>> much more difficult to access resources.10
>>
>> The 2501 Program and SNAP provide necessary resources to improve  
>> equity for Black farmers as well as ensure access to healthy food  
>> and vegetables for our families. So many Black folks are struggling  
>> in these tough economic times — it's critical that Congress  
>> prioritize safeguarding human lives and livelihoods over pandering  
>> to ludicrously profitable agribusiness corporations that don't need  
>> the help. Without sufficient resources provided in the Farm Bill,  
>> millions of families will have an even harder time making ends meet  
>> than they do today. Join us in urging our Representatives to fully  
>> fund those portions of the Farm Bill that our community relies on  
>> the most. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do  
>> the same:
>>
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/farmbill_house/
>>
>> Thanks and Peace,
>>
>> -- Rashad, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Natasha, Kim, Aimée and the rest of  
>> the ColorOfChange.org team
>>    June 26th, 2012
>>
>> Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your  
>> energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large  
>> corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff  
>> ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
>>
>> http://www.colorofchange.org/donate
>>
>> References
>>
>> 1. "Food Leaders: The Farm Bill Props Up The Wrong People," The  
>> Atlantic, 06-05-2012
>>
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1567?t=7&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 2. "Senate farm bill a small step forward for California," San  
>> Francisco Chronicle, 05-28-2012
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1568?t=9&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 3. "Food Stamp Vote In Senate Blocks Bid To Restore $4.5 Billion In  
>> Aid," Huffington Post, 06-19-2012
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1583?t=11&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 4. "More than 46.4 Million Americans Participated in SNAP in March  
>> 2012," Food Research & Action Center, 03-01-2012
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1570?t=13&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 5. "Fact Sheet: Poverty and Hunger among African-Americans" (.pdf),  
>> Bread for the World Institute, 02-2011
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1580?t=15&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 6. "Study: Half of U.S. kids will receive food stamps," USA Today,  
>> 11-02-2009
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1571?t=17&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 7. "The Farm Bill Should Protect Hungry Kids, Not Subsidies for  
>> Insurance Companies," Huffington Post, 06-06-201
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1572?t=19&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 8. "Demand immediate justice for Black farmers," ColorOfChange.org,  
>> 04-01-2009
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1573?t=21&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 9. "Payout to black farmers: Too little, too late," Atlanta Voice,  
>> 05-10-2012
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1574?t=23&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>> 10. "The Farm Bill is Dead! Long Live the Farm Bill – Part Two,"  
>> National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, 11-22-2011
>> http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1577?t=25&akid=2528.394109.46JCrQ
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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