Parity and Farm Justice: Recipe for a Resilient Food System

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Every 4-5 years, the U.S. Farm Bill bounces back and forth between the House and Senate chambers of the U.S. legislature as progressive NGOs engage in lobbying efforts to support social programs like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program, the Conservation title, and now, the Farm Stress program.

None of these issues—important as they are to millions of people—address the crisis of U.S. agriculture. None break the agrifood monopolies’ stranglehold on our farmers, farmworkers, food workers, and consumers, or the negative impact the Farm Bill has on the global food system. None call for parity, the foundation for an equitable farm and food policy. What is missing, according to the authors of this Backgrounder, is farm justice.

Click here to download this backgrounder, or view in full below.

Endnotes:

1. Francis Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, World Hunger: Ten Myths (New York, Oakland Grove Press, Food First, 2015).
2. E Holt-Giménez, “The True Extent of Hunger: What the FAO Isn’t Telling You,” Backgrounder (Oakland, CA: Food First / Institute for Food and Development Policy, 2016), https://archive.foodfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Summer2016Backgrounder.pdf
3. E Holt-Giménez, A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat (New York: Monthly Review Press/Food First Books, 2017).
4. Marty Strange, Family Farming: A New Economic Vision, First Edition (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988).
5. James M. MacDonald and Robert A. Hoppe, “Large Family Farms Continue to Dominate U.S. Agricultural Production,” (USDA), https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2017/march/large-family-farms-continue-to-dominate-us-agricultural-production/
6. Heather Long, “The Laterst Blow to Struggling Family Farms: Rising Interest Rates,” (Washington Post), https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-latest-blow-to-struggling-family-farms-rising-interest-rates/2018/06/01/ec4d192a-5aac-11e8-b656-a5f8c2a9295d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.de6515406a1e
7. George Naylor, “Agricultural Parity for Land De-Commodification,” Land Justice: Re-imagining Land, Food, and the Commons in the United States (Oakland, CA: Food First Books, 2017).

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