NFFC hosts teleconference

The National Family Farm Coalition convened a teleconference call with farmers, an economist, and consumer policy analyst to address the ongoing global food crisis and to highlight the failure of the recent G8 summit to adequately address the need for domestic and international grain reserves. As corn approaches eight dollars, the ramifications of the Midwest floods and future possible weather shocks may cause further disruption to commodity markets. The increased volatility of grain prices threatens to increase hunger among millions of people throughout the world.

George Naylor, an Iowa corn and soybean farmer whose 470-acre farm was heavily impacted by the recent floods in the Midwest, said the current situation is a logical outcome of having dismantled reserves under the 1996 Farm Bill. Naylor said, "America has now transitioned from Freedom to Farm in 1996 to Freedom to Starve in 2008 since we eliminated the Farmer-Owned Reserves and almost all of the rest of our government stocks. Agribusiness wanted a free market to drive our commodity prices low and has installed this same system around the world. Now in a globalized economy with no reserves to ensure stability, we don't know how high prices will go. Grain reserves are essential to ensuring a fair price for farmers and consumers so that our food security is not dependent on speculative global markets."

Patrick Woodall, senior policy analysis from Food and Water Watch, highlighted how World Bank directives led many African countries to abandon their reserves, contributing to the current food crisis. Woodall noted, "A decade of low-priced grain trade and World Bank dictates deterred many developing countries from maintaining buffer stocks and reserve programs. Kenya and Malawi eliminated their reserves altogether at the behest of the World Bank. Other countries like Senegal, Zambia and Tanzania slashed regional granaries and transportation programs that provided buffers against famines. Now Africa is dependent on imported grain that has nearly doubled in price in the past year. The G8 just offers more of the same bad medicine by promoting the WTO Doha Round. None of their prescriptions will help farmers or consumers."