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http://www.ewg.org/opening.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 1, 2001
| CONTACT: | Bill Walker, Environmental Working Group, (510)
444-0973 Laura Chapin, EWG Washington, 202-667-6982 Scott Faber, Environmental Defense, (202) 287-3530 x115 |
Huge Disparity in Federal Aid to Latino Farmers
Farm Policy Reform Would Shift Billions to Specialty Growers & Ranchers
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 - Only 1 in 9 Latino farmers are eligible for federal aid under current U.S. farm policy, compared to 40 percent of all farmers nationwide, according to Agriculture Department data. That inequity will be challenged in Congress this week by a reform plan that would shift $19 billion to programs that would make Latino farmers and ranchers eligible for a much larger share of federal farm spending.
According to the USDA Farm Census, most Latino farmers are found in just five states - California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas - and about 40 percent of them raise cattle. A disproportionately large number of Latino farmers - 24 percent, 3 times the national average - produce specialty crops like fruits, nuts and vegetables.
But neither cattle nor specialty crops are eligible for federal subsidies, which go overwhelmingly to well-off growers of a few favored commodities like rice and cotton. In fact, only 11 percent of Latino farmers in the U.S. are eligible for traditional commodity subsidies.
This week the House is scheduled to vote on the latest federal Farm Bill (H.R. 2646) , which will allocate more than $170 billion in agricultural spending over the next five years. A showdown is expected between a status-quo bill (favored by commodity growers and members of Congress from Midwestern states) and a reform package (the Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell amendment) that would shift $19 billion in traditional commodity subsidies into conservation programs that help farmers keep their land in production and protect the environment. Both specialty growers and ranchers are eligible for federal aid from conservation programs.
"The current policy discriminates against farmers who don't grow the 'right' crops, including about 90 percent of Latinos," said Bill Walker, California director of Environmental Working Group, which is working to increase conservation funding in the Farm Bill. "Federal farm aid should support struggling family farmers, whether they're growing fruit or raising cattle - and whether they're Anglo or Latino."
"This is an opportunity for Congress to address the long history of discrimination against Latino farmers documented by the USDA in 1997," stated Scott Faber, farm policy expert with Environmental Defense. "Passing this amendment will expand federal agricultural programs to encourage greater participation by Hispanic farmers Êwho have not benefited from conservation funding in the past," he added.
