Perspectives on Social Issues
(August 2007)

Vital Measures Called for in Farm Bill Reform
"Oxfam America has called for farm bill reform that includes measures on:

• Commodity reform: to reduce funding for commodity subsidies that distort trade and to shift resources to alternative investments in rural America.
• Efficiency: to reduce the loopholes and accounting games that allow some people to reap huge payments from the taxpayers.
• Conservation: to increase funding for conservation and encourage better stewardship.
• Diversification: to encourage production of other non-commodity food crops.
• Equity: to spread the benefits of economic growth opportunity to new groups and constituencies.
• Rural development: to increase funding for rural development, to expand access to credit, roads, and telecommunications, and to help rural areas diversify their economies and attract new businesses.
• Nutrition: to increase funding for food security through food stamps, food banks, and access to nutritious foods, and to strengthen local and regional agricultural production.
• Global leadership: to set our farm policies in a direction that will enable poor farmers in other countries to make a living. This could also improve international relations with other countries that think current U.S. farm subsidies are unfair to their farmers.

From Fairness in the Fields: The 2007 Farm Bill, Oxfam America."

“The Farm Bill -- Will It Promote Justice and Health?" by Barbara Jennings, CSJ, NETWORK Connection, May/June 2007.

Call to Become God’s Justice by Building Bridges
"The United States seems to be best understood as a nation divided into red and blue states. North Americans who consider themselves Christians are apt to identify themselves as either liberal or conservative.... In church, we join with the choir and we sing the hymn ‘All Are Welcome’ as if we meant it. But then we find our church to be very selective about who and when and why only some can fully participate.... If we continue to nurture our habits of separation and division, we will begin to cherish our hostilities, turn them into religious practices and find more and more excuses to justify the divisions in our lives....

We must become God’s justice in our fractured, divided world. We must find a way out of the impasse. When we see that something is wrong, we must say so. But we must do it in a way that does not widen the gap, create deeper division and rip apart what is already torn. We must always set out to right the wrongs, but we must not make more enemies in our pursuit of justice and peace. There is only one way. We must build bridges."

"Are We Coming or Going” by Ann Willets, National Catholic Reporter (NCR), June 8, 2007.

Food vs. Fuel Competition Heating Up
"The rise of ethanol as an alternative fuel may mean corn will feed more gas tanks and fewer hungry people. The rapid surge in demand for corn to produce ethanol took experts by surprise, and resulted in a 50 percent increase in corn prices last year. As recently as April 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted that the ethanol industry would use 2.6 billion bushels of corn per year by 2010. Their current projection is a demand of 3.7 billion bushels in 2008, representing 29.2 percent of total corn use. In 2001, ethanol represented 7.2 percent of use.

'The food and energy economies, historically separate, are now merging,' says Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute. 'In this new economy, if the fuel value of grain exceeds its food value, the market will move it into the energy economy. As the price of oil climbs, so will the price of food.' The effects of the price jump are far-reaching. Farmers are planting corn instead of rice and soybeans, which are also rising in price. The escalating cost of corn also translates into higher prices for pork, beef, and dairy, which depend on corn for animal feed.

"Alternative Fuel: Bio-Fuel Competes with Food" by Zach Kyle, Sign of Life, Yes! Magazine, Summer 2007.

Franciscans Build Sports Center to Reduce Tensions in Palestine
"Palestinians now can enjoy a new, one-of-a-kind sports center, where they can work out, practice on regulation-sized courts and play safely. ‘It’s something good to bring to Bethlehem, such a place. There is no place like this where women and also men can practice sports,’ said Sylvia Ghattas, 21, as she finished her workout in the gym of the Catholic Action-run sports center. The building, financed by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, boasts the only regulation-sized and equipped basketball court in the Palestinian territories, as well as a gym and two multipurpose halls. Together with Catholic Action’s already existing outdoor pool, family center, children’s hall and playground, the new sports center forms a 2.5-acre sports and recreational complex.

Before, Catholic Action’s sports teams practiced in a haphazard way at various venues throughout the city, said Issa Hazbon, director of the new center. ‘This is a dream come true, and it has come true better than we imagined it could,’ said Hazbon. ‘Children are frustrated here. We direct them to sports to release their anger. They have nowhere else to go.’"

"Franciscan Initiative in Bethlehem," Signs of the Times, America, July 2, 2007.

"Food Stamp Challenge” Educational for Governor and Churchgoers Alike
"Researcher John Cook of the Boston University School of Medicine found that it would cost 30 percent more than the typical [food stamp] benefit to purchase a diet that meets the American Heart Association's recommendations. The average $1 per meal benefit is generally enough to purchase sufficient calories, but not enough to buy nutritious foods like fresh fruits and vegetables or lean meat, which are more expensive....

In April, the governor of Oregon and hundreds of Oregon churchgoers participated in a ‘food stamp challenge’ -- living on a food stamp budget for a week. Governor Ted Kulongoski found his supermarket trip a challenge. Despite efforts to select the least expensive foods, his items totaled more than his allotted $21 for the week....

Mary Sicilia, who participated in the ‘food stamp challenge’ with other members of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, found her choices limited. ‘How do you choose between bread and milk? Between lunch and dinner?’ she asked...."

“How the Farm Bill Can Help Reduce Hunger" by Michele Learner, Background Paper, Bread for the World, June 2007.