Los Angeles, CA
Our nation's food producers are facing a crisis. Problems attributed to the Freedom to Farm Act, international trade policies and anti-trust regulation have created a situation in which family farmers and ranchers are failing at a rate approaching that of the Great Depression. Rural communities throughout America are suffering as foreclosures, bankruptcies, abandonments and buyouts force families from their lands. Small town schools and businesses are downsizing or closing as families relocate to urban areas. More and more, America is experiencing consolidation of food production into the hands of fewer and fewer producers.
In response to this crisis, family farmers and ranchers, rural community leaders, farm and ranch organizations, unions, churches, conservationists and rural agribusinesses have joined together in an effort to reverse these devastating trends. This loosely formed coalition, called "The Campaign to Reclaim Rural America," has mounted a campaign to educate members of Congress and staff of the Administration about the crisis and motivate them into initiating corrective action. Through petitions, rallies, letters, phone calls, press events and personal visits, this campaign has been largely responsible for altering trade policy under NAFTA and moving Congress to appropriate billions of dollars to help alleviate the crisis.
At the request of organized labor, Campaign activists have also initiated contacts with Congress and the Administration to urge their attention to the crisis faced by trade unionists employed in America's steel industry, recognizing the similarities of circumstance shared by rural agricultural communities and these workers. These efforts offer hope for a greater bond between rural agricultural producers and the trade union movement.
The struggle to reclaim rural America is not over. Measures adopted by the Congress and the Administration are stop-gap, and much remains to be done to preserve America's independent food producers and the communities in which they live. The AFL-CIO Executive Council recognizes this situation and commends the efforts of "The Campaign to Reclaim Rural America." It encourages its affiliates to support efforts to reform the Freedom To Farm Act, improve upon the devastating trade policies, and vigorously enforce America's antitrust laws.