This note was written by Deborah Burd, Executive Director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 1:11 PM
I am very pleased to announce that the National Campaign's Commodity Policy Dialogue has finalized an excellent piece of collaborative work that should serve our partners, the sustainable agriculture movement, and us very well in the months and years ahead.
Titled "Desired Principles and Criteria for Evaluating the Sustainability of Future U.S. Commodity Policies," this document is the outcome of 40 diverse organizations working together to articulate and agree on a set of core
principles that will help guide the National Campaign's policy development efforts during the 2007 Farm Bill debate and well beyond.
These principles focus on the concepts of economic stability, equity, environmental stewardship, food systems and an integrated approach to federal policy. Each principle includes a set of basic evaluative questions
that can be used as criteria to assess policy proposals now and in the future.
I am excited to circulate this practical and visionary policy tool, which represents the best of the National Campaign's multi-sector, grassroots-up policy development process, and I applaud the fine work of the many
participating groups, so ably facilitated by Patrick Field of the Consensus Building Institute and coordinated by independent consultant Kathy Lawrence. We hope you will find these principles and evaluative questions both
inspirational and useful in your own work, and we'd love to get your feedback on them. (You can send email to kathy@sustainableagriculture.n
Through development of these principles, and other documents still in progress, Dialogue participants are urging that the 2007 Farm Bill be revised to promote some of the core values embodied in original commodity
policies dating back to the 1930's and 40's: appropriate government regulation to ensure fair markets for farmers, protection for consumers from price gouging and unsafe food, and promotion of agricultural practices that
protect and enhance the environment.
Over the course of this summer and early fall, participants will be finalizing a synthesis report on the full Dialogue process for broad distribution, as well as an integrated package of policy goals that participating groups agree to further develop and pursue together.
To download the Principles and Criteria, click on this link, or cut and paste it directly into your web browser:
http://www.agmatters.net/Comm
For background information on why the National Campaign is convening this Commodity Policy Dialogue, and for a list of participating organizations, go to:
http://www.agmatters.net/Comm
http://www.agmatters.net/Comm
Deborah M. Burd
Executive Director
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
PO Box 396
Pine Bush, NY 12566
Maine Office: PO Box 29
Farmington, ME 04938
207-778-7274
mencsa@maine.edu
For more information on our work visit us at:
www.sustainableagriculture.ne