Free Democracy Summit in DuluthA free conference this weekend (April 25 - 27) in Duluth offers a unique opportunity to learn from regional experts on pressing issues like climate change, unfair trade, and the politics of food. The entire summit is wrapped in the spirit of camaraderie and fun, with favorite local bands rounding out each evening. Oxfam America staff and volunteers will be taking part. This is one conference not to be missed! Click here for a full schedule.
Earth Day
Oxfam Action Corps teams across the country, including here in Minnesota, engaged thousands on and around Earth Day (April 22), promoting awareness of the disproportionate impact climate change has on the world's poor and collecting thousands of signatures for a petition asking the next president to make climate equity a priority. You can sign the petition here.
In March, Minnesotans learned about the nexus between climate change and poverty first-hand. Click here to read a summary of the unique Climate Change and Communities event held at the Minneapolis Central Library.
Farm Bill Update
After Congress failed to pass a Farm Bill by April 18, the 2002 Farm Bill was extended by yet another week. It now expires this Friday, April 23. Reports suggest the conference committee remains gridlocked. Yesterday, President Bush released a statement calling on Congress to extend the current legislation for another year in order to "provide our agricultural producers with the certainty to make sound business and planting decisions about this year's crop..."
A report in today's New York Times described Congress as "oblivious" to international realities in their approach to the Farm Bill. In the Washington Post, Lee Hudson Teslik ties the current Farm Bill's trade-distorting subsidies to the rapidly growing global food crisis. These subsidies are unreformed in the current draft of the Farm Bill, leaving issues of poverty and famine untouched. The effect within the United States is described by Christopher Cook in the Christian Science Monitor: "If the current [Farm Bill draft passes by Friday], Americans will shell out billions of dollars for farm subsidies that wreak havoc on our land and diets. These payments irresponsibly promote the consumption of cheap fatty foods, the depletion of soil and air through overuse of pesticides, and destructive farming practices."
More Farm Bill News:
Christopher Cook in the Christian Science Monitor, Farm Bill: Making America Fat and Polluted, One Subsidy at a Time
Lee Hudson Teslik in the Washington Post, The Seeds of Disaster
New York Times, Farmers’ Income Rises, but Subsidies Stay
Reuters, Bush asks Congress extend 2002 farm law for year
Reuters, New US farm law 13 months in the writing
