Campaign for a Just Food and Farm Policy / Trade > Testimony

The following testimony is presented to the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture on behalf of the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, the Missouri Rural Crisis Center and Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund. Our members include over a hundred community-based groups who represent culturally diverse organizations of small-scale farmers of all races and in every region of the nation. We represent minority and other small-scale farmers. Among them are vibrant and creative groups of Euro-American family farmers in the midwest and northeast, African American and indigenous producers determined to maintain and rebuild a historic connection to the land, as well as Latino and Asian producers who represent a growing sector of agriculture throughout the nation.

I. INTRODUCTION

The small-scale family farmers and organizations we represent share a strong belief that the abundance of the food system should be shared by all, and that a widely-held system of land ownership is fundamental to a democratic society and to the care of the land and the resource base.

These farmers have employed determination and creativity to remain on the land. They have cooperatively derived new methods to diversify production, produce value-added products and enter new markets. In Missouri, for example, small-scale pork producers have collaborate to develop, process and sell their own line of value-added pork products (see section IV B).

Despite the fact that a majority of our members have been underserved or denied access to the programs of the Department of Agriculture and have been victim to irresponsible commodity, trade and supply management policies, they have worked diligently together to develop new methods and new markets. Even in the poorest communities, our members have developed internet and marketing skills. They have crossed the digital divide and began using the Rural Coalition SuperMarketcoop.com to market their products. Their latest project is a virtual CSA (community supported agriculture) that is being used to educating consumers as well as build new markets for participating coops (see section IV B).

The farmers we represent have further determined that cooperation across borders and seasons can improve the viability of farms and communities. They have built new links across communities and regions, and through Supermarketcoop.com, created their own version of an alternative people to people North American Free Trade Agreement with our members and partners in Mexico. Along with linking U.S. consumers to Mexican products, members of the SuperMarketcoop.com are preparing to serve the growing middle-income market in Mexico with products from U.S. small farms. The Federation of Southern Cooperatives has also worked to link its member cooperatives with new markets in inner cities and foreign nations.

The goals for food and farm policy which we have set forth below reflect first of all our deep concern for a farm policy which promotes global and local food security. Our proposals to return to time-tested methods of price supports, supply management and grain reserves also stem from our awareness that in a global economy, farmers in this nation do not benefit from selling their grain below the cost of production on world markets. Likewise, underpriced U.S. corn sold in Mexico has contributed to a new exodus of Mexican farmers from their land and community, who often have no option but to seek employment in the US.

After years of chronic disasters, we strongly support the reestablishment of both national and global grain reserves. From time immemorial, humans have saved grain in abundant years to utilize in years of shortfall. We believe producers are best able to manage these supplies with attention to both food needs and the protection of the land. We further believe reserves are an essential element of attaining both domestic and international food security.

Beyond our specific goals, we also share with this committee the general perception that program flexibility could benefit many producers. We have suggested one major new program for your consideration: Small Farms of the New Millennium. This direct payment program would direct investment to small farmers in both program and non-program crops. We believe this investment would address one longstanding inequity in our farm policy, the exclusion of non-program crop producers from access to farm benefits. Among these being a large segment of minority and other small-scale farmers.

We believe new investment in this sector of farmers is merited for several reasons:

In an era when so much attention is provided to the lure of export markets which have often failed to deliver real benefits to US producers, we believe this program could help small farmers focus more attention on developing the potential of the US domestic market. Our recent research and experience suggests that the U.S. market remains the best in the world and is under-utilized for the type of high quality, value added products we hope to help our small farm members produce and supply to U.S. consumers.

Furthermore, we have in recent months all conducted substantive research with small farmers. Across all regions of the country, different ethic/racial groups and producers of various crops unanimously voiced the need for a direct support program that is flexible and provides the full package of assistance that small farmers need in a single place (see section 1V A). Such an investment in helping small-scale producers develop proactive management and marketing skills and support would benefit not only the farmers, but the hundreds of isolated and largely poor communities where they live. Not only does the proposal address the many inequities this group of producers has faced¹ it would make them active players in recharging the economies of their communities.

Our proposals further articulate our recommendations to assure equal access to farm programs for all farmers. We share all of these recommendations with you for due consideration as part of the commodity title of the farm bill. This policy should serve all farmers, and it is appropriate that the mechanisms developed be central to our farm policy goals and tools.

We recommend the Small Farms of the New Millennium Program to you as one way to fill a critical gap in our current commodity programs and contribute some of the flexibility others have advocated. We look forward to working with this committee and its members on this and other of our proposals to assure service to producers who see themselves very much as part of the future of agriculture in this nation.

Furthermore, we urge this committee to assure full participation in the debate on every aspect of our emerging food and farm policy. It has been more than a decade since our farm policy has been fully debated. During this time of economic setbacks the farmers we serve have moved forward and developed new ideas and visions that merit attention.

The urgency this committee has expressed for moving forward to finish the commodity title of the farm bill early this summer clearly stems from budgetary pressures and the growing problems with the farm programs adopted in 1996. While commodity groups clearly have a strong interest in this portion of the farm bill, we urge that the unrepresented voice and the new and creative approaches emerging from the grassroots level and the emerging sectors of agriculture be heard and receive due consideration.

We also strongly favor a full debate on all other aspects of our national farm policy, and request the opportunity to provide additional testimony to this committee to articulate our proposals in related areas. Likewise, we urge the committee to hear public comment on commodity and farm program proposals as they develop. If time is inadequate for a full debate, we would rather see a one year interim plan implemented than a five or six year program which leaves out the many new ideas that could help build a stronger and more diverse foundation for our farm economy.

In this statement, in addition to our recommendations, we have provided background on both our research findings and on some of our recent accomplishments that may help the committee better envision the types of results we hope can be achieved with the programs and policies we recommend.

II. SUMMARY OF GOALS AND PROPOSALS FOR FOOD AND FARM POLICY

A. GOALS

The following goals for food and farm policy are commended to this committee by our diverse constituency of minority and other small farmers:

1. Global and Community Food Security
   • Stability in Price and Supply
   • Global Food Self Reliance/Fair Trade
   • Fair Price with Supply Management
   • Disaster Prevention and Response
   • Farmer Owned Grain Reserves
2. Justice and Equity for all Participants in the Food System
   • Just Prices and Fair Returns for Farmers
   • Just Wages and Dignified Working Conditions for Workers
   • Equitable Access to Markets and Credit
   • Equity Delivery of Programs and Services
   • Accountability and Protection of Civil and Human Rights
   • Fair Outreach and Access to Information and Technology
   • Targeted Programs for Minority and Other Small Farmers
3. Care for Land, Resources and Communities
   • Incentives for Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Agriculture
   • Oppose Biotechnology, Including Plant Piracy and Corporate Control of the Gene Pool
   • Balanced Development-Rural Urban Connections
   • Research Redirected to Support Food Security and Small Farms
4. Equitable Access to High Quality and Affordable Food
   • Value Added Farmer Cooperatives
   • Direct Marketing, Farmers Market Nutrition, WIC, etc
   • Community Food Security
   • Enforcement of Anti-trust Laws
   • Organic and Labeling Standards

B. SUMMARY OF LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

In order to meet the goals summarized above, we share the following specific policy recommendations with the Committee. Details of these proposals are provided in the following section:

1. Commodity Programs and Disaster Protection - We recommend that non-recourse loan programs be restored for commodity programs in a manner that will provide producers with a fair price. Congress should set commodity loan rates at a level that provides cost of production plus reasonable profit in the marketplace without the need for a deficiency payment. Supply management is an essential feature of such a program, which could also be linked to conservation goals.

2. Farmer Owned Grain Reserve - Growing expenditures on disasters underscore the need to adopt time-tested methods that save grain during years of abundant harvest and use it in years of shortfall. We recommend a farmer-owned grain reserve be reestablished, and favor a plan that allows farmers to hold the grain, compensates them fairly for storage, and provides them with decision making power on the conditions of its release.

3. Establish a new "Small Farms of the New Millennium" support program aimed at small-scale producers with less than $500,000 in gross sales. We propose that the savings accumulated from adopting a price support program that does not require deficiency payments be dedicated instead to this program. Farmers with gross sales of less than $500,000 would receive a subsidy of not less than $10,000 per year subsidy, with offsets waived. The program would serve to jump start the small farm sector, encourage crop diversity and entry into new markets, and allow flexibility to farmers who are in program crop programs, and those who are not. This program could offer some of the flexibility sought in 1996, and help address critical issues such as financial and risk management, marketing and diversification which are essential elements of successful and viable small farm enterprises in all regions of the nation.

4. Outreach and Technical Assistance - These proposals would supply technical assistance to participants and prospective participants in commodity programs and the small farmers of the new millennium program by funding expanded outreach and technical assistance programs which would be provided by community based organizations with demonstrated experience in serving low income, limited resource and minority farmers.

5. Equitable Access To USDA Programs Access - Additional measures are necessary to assure that USDA programs reach all eligible producers, especially those who are historically underserved.

III. LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

Our legislative proposals reflect our conclusion that our current agriculture system is not sustainable. Results of the current farm policies include record low prices, consumer concerns about food safety, concentration of the food system into the hands of a few corporations, and a cost to taxpayers of $30 billion last year in a mostly disaster oriented program. Current farm and trade policies have also failed to increase either exports or producer prices for agriculture products, reduce consumer prices or make food more affordable.

The Rural Coalition, the Missouri Rural Crisis Center and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund and our members endorse these recommendations not only to protect family farm income while reducing taxpayer cost. We also that these programs have the best chance of meeting the goals we have set forth for our agriculture and food policy, including providing access for all consumers to affordable and high quality food now and in the future and of stabilizing both supply and price on a global scale and thereby ensuring more balanced development.

A. COMMODITY PROGRAMS, DISASTER PROTECTION AND FARMER OWNED-RESERVE

We endorse the following commodity program proposals which are contained in the Food from Family Farms Act drafted by the National Family Farm Coalition and others, and which are substantially similar to proposals set forth by the American Corn Growers and the National Farmers Union.

1. Market Price Support.

Price support will be established through a Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) non-recourse loan for wheat, feed-grains, soybeans, oilseeds, cotton and rice.

The Loan rate will be based on an "Agricultural Equity Formula" indexing system that reflects average gross income per acre received during the decade of the1970s, adjusted for inflation and current higher per/acre productivity. (The1970-79 period is widely recognized as the last generally prosperous period in modern U.S. agriculture.) Loan rates will be adjusted annually by indexing to annual inflation and a rolling average of the past 4 year national average yield.

Over a 5-year phase-in period, loan rates will be adjusted upward until they equal the levels received in the 1970s.

Loan rate levels for 2001:
Corn . . . . $3.45 per bu.
Cotton . . . . $0.81 per lb
Soybeans . . $8.63 per bu.
Wheat . . . $5.12 per bu.

2. Program Sign-up Required.

Program sign-up will be required to be eligible for the CCC loan, farmer owned reserve, disaster relief and any other agriculture related government benefit. Historical price ratios between crops (such as corn/soybean price ratio of 1 to 2.5) will be considered when establishing loan rates.

Loan period will be nine months. At the end of nine months, producers will have the option of redeeming the loan, entry into the Farmer Owned Reserve (FOR) if open, or forfeiture to a CCC Food Security Reserve.

· A maximum level of production will be eligible for the loan program.
· No price subsidy payments or loan deficiency payments (LDP) will be made.

3. Farmer Owned Reserve.

A multi-year farmer-owned reserve will be established for all storable commodities to ensure food security and livestock feed supplies. These reserve stocks will be held off the market in times of adequate supply by establishing national average price levels below which reserve stocks cannot enter the market.

• The reserve will be open to farmers any time ending stocks-to-use ratios exceed 5%.
• Storage will be paid annually in advance, at commercial rates.
• The minimum reserve levels shall be 10% of total use.
• Release levels shall be at least 125% of the CCC loan rate.
• Eligible grain will be allowed to be rotated to maintain grain quality.
• A low interest loan program for construction of on-farm storage facilities will be established.

4. Planting Flexibility with Inventory Management.

The Secretary shall establish a short-term inventory management program for storable commodities to balance production with demand. Acreage bases will be defined as Tillable Crop Acres (TCA) giving farmers planting flexibility on TCA subject only to the production adjustments by the Secretary of Agriculture based on ending stocks. Land shall be considered TCA whose production is eligible for non-recourse loan only if, for the last 3 of the 5 preceding crops, the land was planted or considered planted.

The Secretary shall target specific crops for reduced planting only if carryover stocks of that crop exceed 15% of total use. The Secretary will then announce a Conservation Percentage (CP) for such crops, and a producer will be required to enter into a conservation incentive program approved by the local Soil Conservation Service for those acres. After meeting that requirement, the producer/operator will determine which crops and what crop mix to plant under this section.

5. Disaster Relief.

In times of natural disaster, there must be an effective response in the form of disaster assistance.

• Disaster payments will be made to qualified producers who lose 30% or more of their established yield.
• The disaster payment will be made at the rate of 50% of crop losses between 30% and 70%. Losses of crops between 70% and 100% will be compensated at the rate of 100%.
• A loss of 90% shall be considered a total loss and the producers shall have the right to salvage any remaining crop for whatever purpose they choose with no loss of disaster benefits.
• Insurance coverage beyond established disaster payments would be at the producers' cost, but will not be required in order to qualify for disaster payments.
• Receiving crop insurance benefits will not disqualify a producer from receiving full disaster benefits under the disaster program.

6. Production Levels Eligible for Price Support

Amounts of commodities eligible for non-recourse loans will be established based on farm income levels with an incentive toward promoting stewardship principles and actual optimum efficiency. In any crop year, the following amounts of crop production shall be eligible for non-recourse loan:
Wheat . . . . 65,000 bushels
Corn . . . . 125,000 bushels
Soybeans . . 35,000 bushels
Upland Cotton . 1,000,000 pounds
Rice . . . . . 65,000 hundredweight

Other program crops to include: Sunflower Seed, Rapeseed, Grain Sorghum, Canola, Safflower, Barley, Flaxseed, Mustard Seed, Oilseed, Sugar, and Extra Long Staple Cotton

7. Dairy

New dairy policy must set the minimum price of milk at a level that allows dairy farmers to recover their cost of production plus a profit.

• Imports must be limited to a level that does not distort the domestic market including derivatives not listed as dairy products.
• Ban all imports of dairy products from countries with confirmed BSE (mad cow disease) until adequate research can be done to ensure public safety.
• Eliminate block voting by dairy cooperatives.
• Referendum vote on mandatory check-off every five years.

8. Livestock

By establishing direct floor prices under the storable commodities with the non-recourse loan, the Food from Family Farms Act will indirectly establish a floor under livestock prices. If we continue with a program that allows market prices of feedstuffs like grains and oilseeds to be below their cost of production, then we can expect livestock and dairy prices to remain low and livestock production to concentrate in factory farms that rely on purchased feedstuffs.

This intensive livestock production becomes part of a vertically integrated livestock sector denying fair markets to diversified family farms that use environmentally sound crop rotations and responsible nutrient management. We intend for the majority of livestock production to again originate on diversified family farms. We also support the following measures:

• Prohibition on ownership, feeding, or control of livestock by packers.
• Technical corrections to the price reporting law.
• Require that USDA grade and approval methods are extended only to meat and dairy products produced in the U.S. and derived from livestock and dairy animals born, raised, fed and slaughtered in the U.S.
• Require that all government procurement of agricultural commodities, processed and manufactured food is obtained through open, well-publicized bidding. The process should require that all reasonable efforts be made to ensure that a portion of purchased food comes from producers within the local region of the consuming entity.
• Require an immediate and thereafter, periodic referendum on all mandatory check-off programs.
• Bargaining protection legislation and strengthening enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act's poultry provisions.
• Prohibition against price discrimination.

B. SUPPORTING SMALL FARMS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM

The current structure of agriculture programs strongly favors large producers over small. Recent increases in the payment limitation and return to annual and untargeted disaster relief subsidies, while politically feasibly as emergency response, have enlarged and redirected farm support payments to ever-larger farmers.

These policy changes have resulted in a continually declining proportion of agriculture spending supporting the small farm sector. In addition, many minority and other small producers who do not produce program crops have not participated in agriculture programs at all.

These farmers are dependent upon declining sources and access to federal credit programs, leaving their families in a continuing cycle of debt without any real access to markets. Farms are managed for survival rather than sustainability or viability, and for many of these producers, crop insurance is unaffordable, inaccessible and does not serve the needs of farmers in non-program or diversified operations.

At the same time, minority and other small farmers remain also on the wrong side of the digital divide, lacking access to computers and training to keep records and manage finances and gain access to information and e commerce opportunities. In addition, federal programs provide few resources to assist farmers who seek to improve their marketing methods.

1. Small Farms of the New Millennium Program.

Minority and other small farmers have voiced their unqualified support for a program to directly supply assistance to the Small Farm Sector. We favor redirecting a portion of the resources that have been used for direct deficiency and disaster payments, and dedicated them instead to support the Small Farms of the New Millennium program, with the Outreach and Technical assistance services outlined in the next section.

The "Small Farms of the New Millennium" program would provide to producers some of the flexibility sought in 1996. It would also provide resources and technical assistance to help address critical issues such as financial and risk management, marketing and diversification which are essential elements of successful and viable small farm enterprises in all regions of the nation. It would provide the resources necessary to assist small farmers in both program and non-program crops to build skills and results in management, production, conservation, and marketing, including cooperative development.

• Farm families who own their farm or own or lease productive assets, and who provide the day to day labor and management, and who have gross sales of less than $500,000 would receive a subsidy of not less than $10,000 per year subsidy. (Participation may further be limited to families who meet above criteria and have an with an income of $80,000 or less from all sources.)
• Offsets would be waived.
• Payments could be used for production, improvements in conservation, marketing or financial management, computer acquisition and training, facilities and irrigation construction, family needs such as health insurance, or other expenditures to help support the family and the farm operation.
• The program would be open to all farmers regardless of their participation in a program crop.
• Farmers would be eligible and encouraged to receive outreach and technical assistance from qualified community based groups and others who are experienced in serving small and minority farmers.
• Emphasis would also be placed on developing a farm plan and identifying the full range of programs for which the producer could become eligible.
• The Department should share success stories and strategies through its Small Farms Programs.

Such a payment will help small farmers manage risk and gain some income stability. It would also serve to provide an incentive for small farmers who have not participated in agriculture programs to reengage in programs to enhance the viability of their farm operations.

C. OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The programs and services of USDA still do not reach large sectors of minority and small farmers. Ongoing discrimination in agriculture programs and services, and in the marketplace has had a disproportionate negative impact on minority and other small farmers and farmworkers, denying them land, the means of production, market access, and income. This lack of investment has resulted in missed opportunities for both agriculture and community development in many regions of the country at a time when consumers are actively seeking more direct relationships with producers and a growing array of local products.

Our research has demonstrated that minority and other small-scale farmers receive most of the services they have through their cooperatives, community based organizations and from peers in their local community. Participation in USDA programs-particularly commodity programs--remains substandard among this segment of producers. At the same time, USDA outreach efforts are disjointed and vary widely from county to county. Participant rates have soared in areas where outreach and technical assistance is being done by community-based organizations who have been funded through the 2501 Minority Outreach and Technical Assistance Program.

We believe community based organizations already serving these farmers are critical partners in linking farmers to the programs and services they deserve. Outreach efforts in partnership with these groups should be a part of the outreach authority of every program, with clear authority to enter into grants and contracts with the community-based groups who have already demonstrated their experience in working with small farmers, and especially those underserved by current programs.

The Small Farms of the New Millennium Program would maximize results if resources were also provided for Outreach and Technical Assistance to community-based groups working with eligible producers.

• Authority would be provided in each commodity program for the Secretary to enter into grants and contracts with eligible community-based groups to provide outreach and technical assistance to minority and other limited resource producers, as part of the outreach and spending authority of that program or agency.
• The Small Farmers of the New Millennium Program would include a similar outreach and technical component. Funding for the activities would be included in the objectives and funding for the program.
• Eligible groups would be community-based organizations with demonstrated and direct experience in serving minority and other small farmers.
• Grants and Contracts would be for a two or three year period, and renewable.

D. EQUITABLE ACCESS TO USDA PROGRAMS

Additional measures are necessary to assure that USDA programs reach all eligible producers, especially those who are historically underserved. Participation in commodity programs remains low among minority producers and few incentives are provided to those who operate the programs to do better. At the same time, producers who have not previously participated in commodity programs should have the opportunity to do so.

1. Establish Target Participation Rates for minority and small producers all programs, including commodity programs, and publish a yearly county by county report of participation.

• This program is modeled on a provision passed in the 1987 Agriculture Credit Act, which instituted target participation rates for minority producers in farm ownership and operating loans.
• A percentage of minority producers compared to other producers are calculated in each county. Participation in credit programs is then compared to the number of producers in the county.
• Target participation rates can be an effective tool in evaluating the need for additional outreach in areas where minority producers are concentrated. A similar formula for small farmers could also be applied.

2. Provision of Equitable Services to All Producers - Congress, in its consideration of the Waiver of the Statute of Limitations, and related efforts to settle old discrimination complaints against USDA, reviewed equitable program access that began during the Farm Bills of 1985 and 1990. We propose that the committee again review accomplishments, and with groups like ours, continue to identify key issues to secure equitable access.

While not specifically commodity program related, it is important to keep in mind the tools necessary to promote and ensure equal access. For example, unlike virtually every farm and urban county in the country, only Indian Reservations have never been afforded extension services Extension Agents on Indian Reservations. Congress established program in 1990 which covers the cost of extension agents to work out of offices on Indian Reservations, and helps to correct a longstanding inequity in services. However, the program remains consistently underfunded.

A system is also needed to monitor current programs to ensure that they are fairly serving minority and other small farmers. The target participation rate standards recommended above could form the basis of such a system; we have also long recommended the establishment of a minority farm registry, which has been approved by OMB but which remains halted within USDA.

In addition, election procedures and participation in USDA county committees remains inequitable and may inhibit the equitable allocation of resources among minority, beginning and limited resource farmers. We urge this committee to work with us to find the appropriate place to address this issue both in the farm bill debate and in the legislation.

IV. RESEARCH AND BACKGROUND ON ACCOMPLISHENTS OF SMALL FARMERS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Small farmers envision a future for their enterprises and their sector. Our recent efforts have yielded information, ideas, and experience to help develop our potential in the new millennium.

A. RESEACH FINDINGS ON THE NEEDS OF SMALL FARMERS

In preparation for the 2002 Farm Bill debate, the Rural Coalition, Missouri Rural Crisis Center and Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund have been working together on a grassroots research effort to obtain policy input from limited resource, minority and small independent agricultural producers. With assistance from a dedicated group of young researchers in the Missouri Action Research Connection based at the University of Missouri, and support from the US Programs of Oxfam America, we will soon have compiled more complete documentation and findings.

One of the goals of our research was to learn more about the dreams and aspirations of small farmers. The majority had simple visions of farms relatively the same size of what they currently have, only more viable than their current operations. Many participants noted no one had ever asked them before about their dreams. A large number saw cooperatives and collaborative methods as integral to their view of agriculture.

Our research methods, including listening sessions, focus groups, surveys and dialogue, aimed to learn more about their experience and needs related to agriculture programs and services. The input of diverse groups - including small and minority farmers of divers cultures -- have provided on agriculture and USDA programs and services informs the policy proposals that we are presenting today. It is our shared goal to assure that our diverse group of small farmers and farmworkers have the opportunity to have their specific program needs and policy proposals heard as the Farm Bill is debated. We expect to that our final results will incorporate input from over 1500 limited resource, minority and small farmers across the U.S.

Regardless of size, race or region, farmers echoed common concerns regarding food safety, security and the importance of a fair price. Their input reflected a strong desire to make a living from the land through protection and promotion of family farms, strong rural communities and a healthy environment. Overwhelmingly, they identified and underscored the important role of their own cooperatives and community-based organizations in strengthening farms and supporting a strong community based food system. They also articulated the need for more access to outreach and technical assistance provided through their community-based organizations.

Minority and other small farmers noted that limited access to accurate and timely information was problem in all regions and areas of production. Many expressed the feeling that information regarding market prices and government programs is not made readily available to small farmers and that information that is made available is not always relevant to their size or type of production.

Research among all populations of minority farmers (including African American, Asian and Latino) demonstrated they had little to no awareness of knowledge of USDA programs and services, as compared to other farmers represented among our members. The only groups of minority farmers who had greater awareness and familiarity with USDA programs, or who had participated in programs were in areas served by the Section 2501 Minority Outreach and Education Program established in the 1990 Farm Bill.

Access to USDA programs and services were limited for all small producers due to barriers including program vs. non-program crops, size of production, location and language. Many failed to mention USDA agencies at all when asked who helped them; often their positive or negative opinions of USDA were based on their interaction with a single person, which in one place turned out to be Helen, whom we learned later was the well regarded receptionist at the local county office.

Our research shows that small farmers want to be involved in the development and implementation of agricultural programs. They emphasized that programs must be more responsive to local needs, more easily accessible and use locally relevant conduits for communication. They clearly and independently over and over stated the need for a flexible small farm program that met a multiplicity of needs of independent food producers. Likewise, they felt their needs would be better served with more support at the local level for their own community-based organizations and cooperatives to provide outreach and technical assistance.

The need for supply management through non-recourse loans and farmer owned grain reserve was voiced by those both who grow commodities and others. Most also exhibited a generosity of spirit, providing strong support for US Food Aid programs and food assistance to all who need it. Following our research, we have found strong interest from groups in knowing more and participating more actively in the farm policy debate.

B. ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF SMALL FARMERS

The Rural Coalition's SuperMarket Project is an ambitious, collaborative effort of rural, community-based agricultural cooperatives to employ technology in the preservation of their communities, cultures and farming professions. The project currently focuses on three exciting opportunities for opening new markets and increasing the competitive advantage of small farmers; an on-line retail storefront, a subscription-based food of the month program and an online product availability database. With foundations in the Internet and electronic networks, the participating organizations achieve an Internet presence that is many times not achieved by individual farmers and small cooperatives working alone.

The project's Web site, www.supermarketcoop.com, is home to a retail store front for cooperatives with processing capabilities. They groups have all learned that cooperation is a viable strategy in today's marketplace.

For example, Patchwork Family Farms, of Columbia, Missouri, decided to forgo the development of its own online retail store, in favor of the collaborative marketing and mission of the SuperMarket Project. With a meat processing plant integrated into their hog-raising farming cooperative, Patchwork Family Farms is able to offer ham, sausage and other pork products to retail shoppers on the SuperMarket web site. All internet management and sales are facilitated electronically and administered by the Rural Coalition's Washington, DC office.

A subscription-based food of the month program of the SuperMarketcoop, called the Virtual CSA, launched in April as an offshoot of the online retail store. Using simple online marketing techniques, 47 memberships were sold for the first pilot phase and once each month, for the next six months, members will receive a box of product, a combination of fresh and processed, at their door. This subscription, membership program, has given SuperMarket cooperatives an opportunity to share their experiences and cultures more intimately with customers by including educational and policy materials with each shipment, as well as served as a way to develop and expand their retail base. Initial comments are enthusiastic, with members also now using the regular retail site to purchase additional products.

Finally, potentially the most powerful aspect of the SuperMarket Project is an online product availability database, or "live inventory" of the current products of participating SuperMarket cooperatives. Effective as a business and management tool for each individual cooperative, a customer interface opens limitless marketing opportunities, providing buyers with up-to-date, as well as future product availability. Each cooperative will also be able to provide production and sales data back to individual members.

The SuperMarket Project is an organic, evolving technology-based project, enabling previously excluded farmers and rural businesses access to markets and tools essential to business growth. As participants gain skills and understanding of the potential technology offers, they develop the capacity to dream and imagine success and sustainability.

C. ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATIONS

Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural

The Rural Coalition is an alliance of regionally and culturally diverse organizations working to build a more just and sustainable food system. We join together to work for a system that brings fair returns to minority farmers, small farmers and rural communities, provides just and fair working conditions for farmworkers, protects the environment, and offers safe and healthy food to consumers. The Rural Coalition's advocates for national policies that support these goals and initiate economic development efforts to bridge the digital divide and help our diverse members market the products of their small farms.

Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund

The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund is a resource and advocacy association involving 25,000 low-income rural families, organized into over 100 cooperatives, credit unions and community-based economic development groups across the South. Organized in 1967, the Federation has a quarter century of direct, cutting edge experience providing outreach and technical assistance to under-served farmers throughout the southeast. Since the mid-1980's, the Federation has worked in coalition with other progressive farm groups for better prices, more accessible credit and special rights for farmers of color to compensate for decades of discrimination and neglect by USDA and other government agencies.

Missouri Rural Crisis Center

The Missouri Rural Crisis Center is a progressive, nonprofit organization with more than 5,500 member families from all over Missouri. The Center works to preserve family farms, promote stewardship of the land and environmental integrity, and strive for economic and social justice by building unity and mutual understanding among diverse groups, both rural and urban. Missouri Rural Crisis Center members work toward equitable farm and food policies that pay farmers a fair price for their livestock and crops while providing high-quality food at affordable prices to consumers.