Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS)

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Resource Pointer #344 (U.S. Agricultural Policy)
November 5, 2003

For copies of the following resources, please contact the appropriate publishers or organizations directly.

*Fighting for the Farm: Rural America Transformed, 2003* Jane Adams (editor). Examines, through the use of case studies, the history of U.S. agriculture since the 1920s, both within and independent of the global agricultural system. Identifies a shift in U.S. agricultural policy from a basis in economics to incorporation of politics, including environmental and human health concerns. 338 pages. US $22.50. Contact University of Pennsylvania Press, Hopkins Fulfillment Services, P.O. Box 50370, Hampden Station, Baltimore, MD 21211; phone (800) 537-5487; fax (410) 516-6998; email custserv@pobox.upenn.edu; Web site http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/.

*Rethinking US Agricultural Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide, 2003* Daryll E. Ray, Daniel G. De La Torre Ugarte, and Kelly J. Tiller. Explores the relationship between U.S. agricultural policy and depressed crop prices which pose a threat to farmer livelihoods. Points to the 1996 Farm Bill as causing declining prices by eliminating safeguards for managing supply and demand. Investigates the global influence of these agricultural policies and demonstrates that sound international agricultural policy need rely on more than a mere elimination of subsidies, as is popularly proposed. Proposes farm policies that would raise crop prices, as well as address issues of supply and demand. 59 pages. Available for free download in English and Spanish at: http://www.agpolicy.org/blueprint.html. Contact Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, The University of Tennessee, 310 Morgan Hall, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-4519; phone (865) 974-7407; fax (865) 974-7298; Web site http://www.agpolicy.org/.

*Shafted: Free Trade and America’s Working Poor, 2003* Christine Ahn (editor). Reveals the harmful effects of trade liberalization on farmers, farm laborers, and workers in the U.S. through first-hand accounts from those most affected by free trade. Also includes analysis of trends and data to frame the workers’ stories. Examines the policy roots behind increasing poverty and the decline in job security for America’s workers. 94 pages. US $10. Contact Food First, 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94618; phone (510) 654-4400; fax (510) 654-4451; email foodfirst@foodfirst.org; Web site http://www.foodfirst.org/.

*Government Policy and Farmland Markets: The Maintenance of Farmer Wealth, 2003* Charles B. Moss and Andrew Schmitz. Asserts farmland value, independent from crop value, as a significant factor to be considered in agricultural policymaking. Examines the history and current state of farmland markets, and past interactions with government policy, urbanization, and farmer livelihoods. 421 pages. US $59.95. Contact Iowa State Press, 2121 State Avenue, Ames, IA 50014; phone (800)862-6657; fax (515) 292-3348; Web site http://www.iowastatepress.com/.

*Amber Waves of Gain: How the Farm Bureau is Reaping Profits at the Expense of America’s Family Farmers, Taxpayers and the Environment, 2000* Defenders of Wildlife. Investigates the bureaucratic structure of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and questions their claims of neutral treatment of family farmers, the pesticide and oil industries, farming insurance companies, and government organizations such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. Discusses ways in which such AFBF associations have had a negative impact on family farmers and environmental and human health. 98 pages. Available for free download at: http://www.defenders.org/fb/awg.html. Contact Defenders of Wildlife, National Headquarters, 1130 17th Street, NW, Washington DC 20030; phone (202) 682-9400; email info@defenders.org; Web site http://www.defenders.org/.

We encourage those interested in having resources listed in the PANUPS Resource Pointer to send review copies of publications, videos or other resources to our office.

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