The Rural Voice, 1991-01, Page 58BRUCE
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050
• The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County farmers by the BCFA.
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
OPINION:
TO TRADE OR NOT
TO TRADE
The recent failure of the GATT talks to
produce any solution to the impasse over
agricultural subsidies has left many people
confused. Western Canadian farmers argue,
along with the Americans, that we need an
end to the subsidies that are now encourag-
ing overproduction and low prices. Supply -
managed commodity groups, whose prod-
ucts are sold mainly to the domestic market,
point out that these internal controls are not
market -distorting and should not be touched
by any future international agreement. The
EEC is clearly unimpressed with the notion
of wide open trade. They still remember the
hunger that followed World War II and are
determined to have their own farmers pro-
duce a surplus at whatever the cost. Mean-
while, the Consumers Association of Can-
ada (CAC) issues a statement that farm
marketing boards here are inflating food
prices and costing consumers billions of
dollars. Worldwide surpluses of grain seem
to go hand in hand with massive starvation in
Africa, Asia, Central and South America.
The whole issue of food and world trade
is so confusing that few people even attempt
to understand it. Almost all the analysts who
commented during the massive media cov-
erage surrounding the Brussels talks seemed
to assume that an agreement to cut subsidies,
opening the door for freer trade, would be
beneficial. In effect, they started out from
the premise that "world trade in food is a
good thing." I disagree. Canadians are a
caring, conscientious people. Before we
send our negotiators to try again, we should
consider the following:
• Trading food internationally usually
increases hunger and starvation in underde-
veloped countries. As they develop export -
oriented agriculture, production moves out
of the hands of present farmers and away
from staples required to supply local needs.
Some of the world's most successful coffee
exporters are the famine stricken countries
of Ethiopia, Zaire, and Uganda.
• The introduction of our foodstuffs
(wheat) into areas where they were not tradi-
tionally grown and eaten creates a hopeless
54 THE RURAL VOICE
dependency where none existed before. As
wheat is introduced, the demand for tradi-
tional foods declines and production de-
clines. Over a period of years, the skills to
manage these traditional crops are lost. A
highly sustainable, self sufficient agriculture
has been replaced by a dependency on food
purchased from abroad. As the president of
Peru lamented, "The mass consumption of
wheat, which comes from another geo-
graphical area, ended the usefulness of the
Andes."
• Needlessly transporting food over long
distances is wastefully inefficient. Massive
amounts of energy are used, polluting the en-
vironment, to ship food into areas where a
surplus of that commodity already exists.
• Many areas of intense agricultural
production such as the American midwest
and the Canadian prairies generate the na-
tions' export product using a monoculture
system that is unsustainable. What we are
really exporting here is soil and eroding the
potential productivity for generations to
come.
So how do we deal with the GATT
impasse? I suggest we go in with a different
agenda. Work in co-operation with other
countries to develop, wherever possible,
self-sufficiency in food for every nation and
every region within a nation. We should
seek international agreements which dis-
courage trade in food. Only those areas
where (1) the local people are well fed, and
(2) the agriculture employed is diverse and
sustainable, would be considered as poten-
tial exporters. We should strive to reduce the
centralization of food processing, favouring
small local processors who make it possible
for locally grown food to be eaten locally.
If Canada wants to help feed the world,
these are the initiatives which sooner or later,
must be taken. Our current policy of "let's
export as much as we can" feeds only the
bank accounts of world grain traders while
farmers here go broke, the soil continues to
wash away, and the poor of the world con-
tinue to starve.0
NOTE: Each month this page will contain an
opinion on a current farm issue. We would
like to know what YOU think. If your opinion
differs from the one you have read here, or if
you support our view, call the office at 364-
3050.
RURAL CONNECTIONS
Rural Connections, with the support of
Bruce and Grey County Federations of
Agriculture, is presenting a winter program
of motivational and innovative speakers
open to all farmers in the Grey -Bruce region.
Designed to bring a farm community
together to hear, discuss, and debate issues of
personal importance as farmers build spe-
cific plans for themselves and their farm for
the next decade, this series seeks to expose
participants to concepts and ideas, old and
new, that will be helpful in building opportu-
nity and hope in individual farm plans.
Rural Connections believes that the an-
swers to the needs of the farm community
must come from within the farm community.
On January 15 at 8 p.m., Cynthia Patter-
son, co-ordinator of Rural Dignity of Canada
will address the topic "the agricultural com-
munity — pulling together, pulling apart."
On February 27, 1991, Brewster Kneen,
author and economist will discuss "the poli-
tics of food production — what you can do
about it" with reference to "competitiveness
and its negative effect on the farm commu-
nity."
The final date in the series, March 26,
will be a panel discussion facilitated by Carl
Sulliman, chief operating officer of OFA.
The topic "discovering opportunities and
hope for agriculture in the 1990s" will bring
together:
Ted Zettel — an organic farmer active in
Ontario, a co-operative that further proc-
esses, markets, and exports local farm pro-
duce.
Ken Furlong — a young full-time farmer
who has found innovative ways to minimize
input costs and increase farm margins.
Janet Horner — a farm partner who has
discovered an on-farm value added enter-
prise to utilize available product, assets, and
labour and management resources.
Allan Wilford — a lawyer who will
investigate the revitalization of the co-op-
erative spirit and concept and discuss oppor-
tunities farmers working together may have.
This series offers participants a chance to
respond, discuss, question and share input.
Mark January 15, February 27, and March
26 on your calendar and the place— Knights
of Columbus Hall, one kilometre west of Ha-
nover on Highway 4. See you there!!O