THE FARM BILL: policy on your plate

I just got back from grocery shopping. I’ll soon be fixing a meal but first I want to take a moment to explore this idea of business and policy in the context of the Farm Bill.  After all the products available and the prices I paid at the grocery store are directly affected by this 79 year old bill. 

I am currently on the Food Team but I admit I am not intimate with every detail of the Farm Bill and doing a little research for this blog I realized why;  the 2008 Farm Bill was 1,770 pages.  The Farm Bill is a very complex policy document that covers many aspects of our food system not just farming.  The Farm Bill is updated and re-enacted every 5 years. The first farm bill was in 1933 and started by Henry Wallace, President Roosevelt’s Secretary of Agriculture. The original idea was to help mitigate the low prices of crops during the Greet Recession. The government would take of the market the commodities when prices where to low and then resold later when prices recovered. The government was able to make money on this program and many farmers benefited. This also led to farmer instituted grain reserves providing flexibility of when they sold their crops. Today the government pays directly to the farmers the difference of what food processors pay and what farmers need to be economically viable. 

The current and proposed Farm Bill covers many topics, called titles. These include: 

• Title I, Commodities : Payment and loan programs for 20 farm commodities.
• Title II, Conservation : Conservation programs, wetlands protection, grasslands protection, farmland protection and incentives for farmers to improve environmental stewardship.
• Title III, Agricultural Trade and Aid : Food aid 
• and meeting World Trade Organization obligations.
• Title IV, Nutrition : Food stamps, child nutrition and supplemental food.
• Title V, Farm Credit : Farm ownership loans and emergency credit.
• Title VI, Rural Development : Grants for rural businesses and small communities, expanding rural broadband access.
• Title VII, Research : Agricultural extension services, research on all areas of food production including biotechnology and organic production.
• Title VIII, Forestry: Funding for various U.S. forest service projects including community forestry.
• Title IX, Energy: Funding for bioenergy projects and research as well as federal procurement for biobased products.
• Title X, Miscellaneous : Includes crop insurance, disaster assistance, animal welfare/inspections and country of-origin labeling.

The largest part of the Farm Bill is our food assistance program (SNAP). The second highest funded title is the commodities support (see the info graphic below). This support of commodities has many hidden cost including the increased obesity rates in our country. (see info graphic provided by takepart.com)

Another thing I was interested in regarding this current Farm Bill was the expansion of Farm Insurance Programs.  In an article, A Risky Proposition: Crop Insurance in the Face of Climate Change, Julia Olmstead talked about the missed opportunity to tie insurance coverage and sustainable farming practices. Most farmers are interested in their soil health and long term sustainability but often the current system is working against those goals. Tying government backed insurance to the sustainable practices a farmer as incentive for farmers to take the appropriate measures to protect soils, water, and general environment.  This is currently not part of the 2012 Farm Bill.  This is a missed opportunity and hopefully we can figure out other ways to create this sort of incentive. 

There is also, although small, continued local food systems support and recognition of the value of small to mid-size farms in the current version of the unauthorized 2012 Farm Bill. These included programs to diversify crops, support small farmers marketing with marketing, creating infrastructure to help small and mid-size farmers reach urban centers, data collection regarding local food system, and programs for beginner farmers. 

The recent news around the passing of the next Farm Bill suggest it will either be passed by the end of the year as part of the larger budget discussions or the Farm Bill will not be passed until April 2013. The 2008 Farm Bill is currently expired and has not been renewed. 

References: 

A Fair Farm Bill for America: A series of papers on the 2007 Farm Bill. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.  Found at http://www.iatp.org/files/258_2_97623.pdf

Infographic reference: http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/06/07/farm-bill-infographic

A side by side comparison of the 2008 and the new 2012 Farm bill can be found http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42552.pdf

A Risky Proposition: Crop Insurance in the Face of Climate Change. Julia Olmstead. Found at http://www.iatp.org/documents/a-risky-proposition-crop-insurance-in-the-face-of-climate-change

NYT Articles: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/11/10/us/politics/ap-us-fiscal-cliff-farm-bill.html?ref=farmbillus&_r=0 & http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/11/05/business/05reuters-usa-politics-farmbill.html?ref=farmbillus

Creating Community does NOT equal Social Equity

so·cial

of or pertaining to human society, especially as a body divided into classes according to status: social rank.

eq·ui·ty

the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality:the equity of Solomon. Synonyms: disinterest, equitableness,impartiality, fair-mindedness, fairness, justness,evenhandedness, objectivity; justice, probity. Antonyms:bias, discrimination, inequity, injustice, partiality,partisanship, prejudice, unfairness, unreasonableness;injustice.

com·mu·ni·ty

a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharingcommon characteristics or interests and perceived orperceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the largersociety within which it exists (usually preceded by the  ): thebusiness community; the community of scholars.

I remember not too long ago sitting around at a staff meeting with my boss and talking about our office values, goals, etc. We are a community based architecture firm on Capitol Hill. A lot of our conversation focused around our connections to our neighborhood. How we, as designers, wanted to created spaces that foster and encouraged community. We wanted to create community that was open to all and full of diversity. As a quick exercise my boss asked each team member to talk about what community meant to them. The answers were as you might expect; support, trust, shared values, shared proximity, shared goals, shared history, etc. She pointed out after we all shared that community and creating community does not equal social equity. Creating community was about finding people that often had shared values and social equity was about making space for everyone within a community.

Let’s take a moment here for a quick history lesson. Social equity is a newer word in the sustainable vernacularly and is popularly defined as equal opportunity for all in a safe and healthy environment. It has gained popularity after the President's Council on Sustainable Development, in 1996, defined Social Equity as "equal opportunity, in a safe and healthy environment" in their report.  Today it is considered vital third element in the three legged stool of the sustainability.

So if a community is people with shared histories, things in common, a family, or a group of friend then it is clear that just by creating community we are not ensuring all human beings social equity.

Creating community can foster social equity but there needs to be awareness and intention to allow all human beings to participate in the new community. I think we as future leaders in the new sustainable economy need to be aware of our own mental models of community as we strive for social equity with in our communities. I believe social equity can be at odds with our personal ideas of community. Community by its definition is about creating an ‘us’ and ‘them’ which is the opposite of a club that everyone can belong to. Before I go too far let me be clear there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating communities based on common histories, shared values, geographic location, etc., we just can’t call that creating social equity. A truly social equitable community would not be comprised of all like mined individuals or individuals who have shared histories.  In the end a truly socially equitable community would likely take many of us out of our comfort zone and challenge our mental models of community. It would be the community of the globe.

I think as individuals and as a society we need to be aware the communities we create and the barriers we place on who is allowed into them. Again, I don’t think we must always have socially equitable communities at every level of our life or at every level of society.  What we need is that every individual and every discrete community has the same social opportunity to have expression in our society.  

I realize this is a long rant for what some might consider not a big issues but I challenge you to listen to the how ‘social equity’ and ‘creating community’ are often used interchangeably. They are not interchangeable.

Oh, and how the heck does this relate to economics you ask.. well let me tell you! Fostering both communities and social equality (and understanding the difference) for individuals, groups, and communities to express themselves will develop positive human capital. Empowered expressive people are no longer liabilities but rather assets to society. They contribute to society as equals making the whole system stronger.

“Social Equity is the cornerstone of Social Capital, which cannot be maintained for a few at the expense of the many.” (wikipeda.com)