Farm Aid '98, Tinley Park, IL-- America's family farmers are facing an unprecedented crisis this fall.  Hundreds of thousands of family farmers are threatened with the loss of their farms as a result of the industrialization of agriculture and the collapse of prices in virtually every kind of crop or livestock product they raise.  The disappearance of another generation of family farmers will hurt our economy, pollute the environment, and concentrate the ownership of our food supply into the hands of a few multinational corporations.

But it doesn't have to be this way.  There's still time for citizens to take action.  That's why Farm Aid is so important.  They help us - family farmers - bring our message directly to you.  We have traveled to Farm Aid '98 to highlight the most important issues confronting agricultural communities throughout the United States.  We also bring you solutions and actions you can take.  We need your support.

Family farmers are outraged.  Consumers should be too.  Here's why:  Factory farms continue to expand and push family farmers out of business.  What's at stake is the prosperity of rural communities, the future of our environment, and far-reaching questions of food safety and affordability.  Government and corporate spin doctors try to tell us that factory farms are more efficient.  But in reality they get sweetheart deals, low interest government loans, and tax breaks that aren't available to family farmers.  All the while they're polluting our air, poisoning our water, destroying our land, and raising animals inhumanely.  Who pays to clean up animal waste and spills made by corporate hog producers and their absentee investors?  Who pays when factory farms and their allies on the National Pork Producers Council and National Broiler Council continue to feed at Congress' trough?  You, the taxpayer.

Family farmers are mad. Consumers should be too.  Here's why: Federal agriculture and trade policies have eliminated many farmers' marketing tools, making it easy for multinational corporations to dictate low prices to farmers on a take it or leave it basis.  Commodity prices on the farm are reaching record lows, with overall farm income proposed to fall by $8 billion this year alone.  Farm debt levels are reaching record highs with farm auctions and bankruptcies on the rise.  Congress is not taking responsibility for its disastrous farm policy enacted in 1996, known as "Freedom to Farm."  There are legislative solutions, but Congress has failed so far to approve even modest steps to improve family farmers' ability to earn a living, such as lifting a cap on commodity loan rates and restoring funds for USDA's Fund for Rural America.
 
And there are more reasons why family farmers and ranchers are angry. Consumers should be too. Here's why: High-quality cattle and hogs are raised on the farm, but farmers have no control over what happens once it's time to sell them. Three corporations have a monopoly in livestock and meat. They don't care about the quality and the safety of the meat they sell. They manipulate livestock prices and force farmers into unfair contracts. The companies are trying to force ranchers and other farmers into factory farm-style production contracts, as seen in the poultry industry.  Farmers get less for their livestock, while consumers pay more for meat in the grocery store. These companies even oppose putting labels on meat so consumers know where their meat comes from. You can tell where your T-shirt came from, but not your T-bone. Farmers have a right to the same anti-monopoly protections in the livestock market as there are in the stock market.  Consumers have a right to choose meat from U.S. family farms.

In addition, family farmers face discrimination.  Consumers will pay the bill.  Here's why:  Minority farmers have experienced decades of racial discrimination in the delivery of USDA programs.  Access to farm credit has been denied and loan servicing has been unfair in times of crisis.  In 1996, USDA appointed a Civil Rights Action Team which issued 92 recommendations.  A few recommendations have been implemented, most have only been recognized as problems that still need a real response.  On the whole, USDA has treated small farmers with indifference and neglect.  In January 1998, the National Commission on Small Farms submitted 146 policy recommendations to Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman in its report, "A Time to Act".  Solutions to address the crisis in agriculture are embodied in this report.  Congress and Secretary Glickman must not shirk their responsibility to act.  They must implement these recommendations.

Family Farmers can fight back.  Consumers should too.  Here are three success stories.  Eighty-seven percent of America's organic farmers are family farmers.  They believe in the public's right to know where and how their food is grown. That's why they use an organic label and receive a fair return from the sale of their products.  Organic farmers wrote a national law which required the USDA to enact a strong standard.  When the USDA, in concert with special corporate interests, proposed a regulation which gutted the law, over 275,000 growers and consumers rose up in protest and contacted USDA.  This remarkable new alliance forced the USDA back to the "organic" drawing board.

Another success story on the ground and in our communities: family farmers and rural residents across the Midwest have organized over the past two years to stop 130 hog factories from being built.  They have directly challenged government and corporate officials through meetings, rallies, protests, phone calls and petitions.  They continue to speak out to save their farms and communities from the environmental and economic problems caused by industrial agriculture.

Also, dairy farmers, who have been suffering 1970's prices, are organizing their own marketing systems, bypassing the processing and retail interests that dominate the industry.  This movement is keeping family farmers on their land while ensuring an adequate supply of healthy, reasonably priced dairy products for consumers.
 
Family farmers in the United States are working with farmers from other countries in order to create a fair trade policy; one that encourages family farm agriculture rather than corporate monopolization of food supplies.  In a fair market farmers could label their products, letting consumers know how their food is produced.  Labeling of food grown with genetically engineered products, whether Roundup Ready Soybeans or rBGH milk, enables consumers to vote with their food dollars.

Farmers from all over the country are fed up.  They are fighting for all this and more.  They are writing letters, meeting with their elected officials, and, in some cases even taking to the streets and borders to protest against bad policies.  Farmers are creating innovative new marketing networks, bypassing corporate agribusiness, and in ever-increasing numbers marketing their products direct to consumers.  With natural disasters hitting every farm region of the country and agribusiness' greed hurting farmers worldwide, it's time for the USDA and Congress to act on behalf of family farmers and consumers.

You can make a difference.  Call or write your Members of Congress, the White House, and USDA.  Get involved in your local groups.  Make a contribution to Farm Aid today.  Ask them for a list of groups they support.  There's strength in numbers.  Our organizations are fighting hard and have won important victories.  Together we can protect our environment, produce a safe and abundant food supply, and provide a fair price to family farmers.  Today, farmers are going out of business due to record low prices while consumer prices in the grocery store keep rising.  Food processing corporations are making record profits.  Work with us to change this policy.  It's good for you.  It's good for our communities.  It's good for America.  Call Farm Aid and get involved. 1-800-FARM-AID

Endorsing Organizations:

State, Regional, and National Organizations:
American Corn Growers Association  http://www.acga.org/
Animal Welfare Institute
California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SAWG)
Californians for Pesticide Reform
Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment
Center for Sustainable Agriculture, University of Vermont  http://www.uvm.edu/~susagctr/index.html
Center for Sustainable Systems (KY)
Citizen Action Coalition of Indiana
Commodity Growers Cooperative Association
Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CA)  http://www.caff.org/
Community Farm Alliance (KY)
Community Food Security Coalition   http://www.foodsecurity.org/
Cornucopia Network of New Jersey
Dakota Resource Council
Dakota Rural Action   http://www.idealist.org/cgi-bin/IS/detailed.pl?org!Dakota+Rural+Action
Edmonds Institute
Family Farm Defenders
Farmers' Legal Action Group  http://www.flaginc.org/
Federation of Southern Cooperatives    http://www.farmworkers.org/fscpage.html
Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers (FOG)
Friends of the Earth    http://www.foe.org/
Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture    http://www.hawiaa.org/
Hoosier Organic Marketing Education    http://web.iquest.net/ofma/homeinfo.htm
Idaho Rural Council
Illinois Stewardship Alliance   http://www.uwin.siu.edu/~isa
Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Society   http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/~asap/resources/isan.html
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy    http://www.igc.org/iatp/
Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First    http://www.foodfirst.org/
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Kansas Farmers Union   http://www.nfu.org/html/state_4.html
Land Loss Prevention Project
Maine Coalition for Food Security
Minnesota Project
Missouri Rural Crisis Center   http://www.inmotionmagazine.com
Mothers for Natural Law
National Catholic Rural Life Conference   http://www.ncrlc.com
National Contract Poultry Growers Association
National Family Farm Coalition
Nebraska Wildlife Federation
New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Northern Plains Resource Council (MT)
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides
Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association
Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust
Organic Farm Education and Information Foundation
Organic Farmers Marketing Association    http://web.iquest.net/ofma/
Organic Farming Research Foundation
Powder River Basin Resource Council
Rural Advancement Foundation, Intl. (NC)
Pesticide Action Network North America
Rural Coalition
Rural Vermont
Sierra Club Agriculture Committee
South Dakota Resources Coalition
The Humane Society of the United States
Western Colorado Congress
Western Organization of Resource Councils
Wisconsin Rural Development Center   http://www.wisc.edu/uwcc/info/macsac2.html

Local Organizations:
Action for the Environment (SD)
Agricultural Resources Center (NC)
Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture Production (WI)
Center for Ethics and Toxics, (CA)
Citizens Legal Environmental Action Network (CLEAN)
Community Food Security Project, Occidental College (CA)
Community Service, Inc. (OH)
Conflict Resolution Programs (KS)
Families Against Rural Messes (IL)   http://www.farmweb.org
Family Farms for the Future (MO)
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Gulf Restoration Network
Main Line Nutrition Service (PA)
Prairieland Community Supported Agriculture   http://www.prairienet.org/pcsa/
Tahoma Food System (WA)
United Neighborhood Houses of NY
University-Migrant Project, U-MN Twin Cities Campus
Weaver Street Market (NC)
Wedge Community Cooperative (MN)