Vassar students protest Farm Bill

Christine Vines Guest Writer

Imagine an issue that both President George W. Bush and Vassar College students agree upon. The Farm Bill Extension Act of 2007 goes to the Senate this month and for once, both Bush and Vassar students are pushing for major agricultural reform.

On Friday, Sept. 21, 10 Vassar students joined 70 other concerned students from 17 different colleges and universities to make their case heard in Washington, D.C. Vassar students from Operation Donation, Hunger Action and the College Democrats were all represented at the National Student Day of Action for an Equitable Farm Bill. Students also set up tables lined with phones in the College Center and encouraged those who could not attend the protest to call their senators about the bill.

The 2007 Farm Bill addresses three main issues: domestic food programs including school lunches and food stamps, commodity subsidies and environmental conservation.

The federal government periodically adopts broad farm bills, which set overall agricultural policy. Farms bills can be highly controversial, impacting environmental preservation, trade, food production, and the well-being of rural communities. The agricultural subsidy programs mandated by the farm bills are the subject of especially intense debate.

Although there was some last-minute Republican opposition and a veto threat in the House, the bill passed by a margin of 40 votes.

Vassar Student Association (VSA) Vice President for Activities Jimmy Kelly ’09 co-organized of the Day of Action in D.C. ‘The same or more opposition is still possible in the Senate, but “it is almost guaranteed to become law,” said Kelly.

Students lobbying on Friday called for a change to the current policy on commodity subsidies. The first Farm Bill was drafted as a part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal to provide subsidies to small farmers during the Depression. Today, the bill has a similar reputation, but many believe it does just the opposite.

“We think the Farm Bill is designed to help the small farmer,” said Kelly. “But when five crops receive 90 percent of the subsidies and the top 10 percent of recipients receive more than 70 percent of all money paid out, it seems clear that we are reinforcing privilege rather than fighting social and economic ills.”

The current food bill has also been criticized for providing enormous subsidies to certain industries lowering the cost of junk foods that use products like high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

To protest the delineation of subsidies, Kelly and fellow students conducted meetings with more than forty-five senators and held a televised press conference in which participants gave speeches and performed a symbolic “cotton dumping,” in which students covered themselves in cotton to represent the dumping of our crops on developing countries.

Madeleine Newbold ’11 was one of seven Vassar freshmen to take part in the day’s events. “It was an amazing experience overall,” said Newbold. “How many people can say their first trip to D.C. was spent lobbying in favor of a bill that has the potential to diminish poverty internationally as well as improve health and environmental standards here?”

“I think we were very well heard,” Kelly said. “We put a ton of research into the bill and the political feasibilities of the proposals we introduced, and I think the people we met with were generally impressed and willing to hear us.”

These students are hopeful that their efforts will result in major changes in the Senate, because thus far, according to Kelly, “little more than cosmetic changes have been made.”

There are also those who hold a more radical hope for the future of the Farm Bill, among them Associate Professor of Economics Alan Marco.

“My personal opinion is that we should end farm subsidies,” said Marco. “We were on a trajectory to do this some years ago with the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996, but it was replaced with continued subsidies in 2002. The new Farm Bill redefines the way in which subsidies are calculated, but it does not do away with them.”

But no changes can occur without the efforts of passionate citizens. Kelly strongly urged students to write their senators, assuring that “if they hear the voices, they’ll make change.”

Marco agreed that change will only result from deliberate and concerted actions. “The reality is that we have farm subsidies now because we’ve had them for a long time,” he said. “It’s always difficult to take back an entitlement, even when it's inefficient.”

The National Day of Action brought together students of a similar mind to enact this change. Alex Sheff ’08 expressed his satisfaction with the movement. “There is a lot of talking about important issues here at Vassar, and that’s great,” said Sheff. “There are very smart people here with a lot of interesting things to say, but what this trip did was bring those interesting ideas to the people who have the power to make decisions.”