Farm and Rural Life Issue Page

There was a glimmer of good news in the global food price crisis when Japan announced it will release a portion of its imported rice stockpile and the High Level UN Food and Agriculture Organization secured financial commitments for short-term food aid and increased research and development into new seeds and the distribution of fertilizer to small farmers. Nonetheless, the dismal state of affairs in the global food situation underscores the need for US leadership in addressing a world agricultural system that is facing new challenges and a painful transition.

Fifteen years ago, a disastrous flood swept through the Midwest, causing an estimated $20 billion in flood damage, nearly 50 deaths and untold trauma to the hundreds of thousands whose homes were damaged or destroyed. Today we see the same kind of flooding in many of the same areas. Twenty-four deaths have been attributed to this year's floods, and economic damage is escalating into the billions of dollars. The sad truth is that while we learned a lot from the 1993 flood about how to prevent losses, we have not acted on those lessons (or those from Hurricane Katrina, for that matter). After the 1993 flood, President Bill Clinton ordered a White House study to determine what could be done to reduce future flood damage. The report recommended that those living behind levees be required to obtain flood insurance. Many of these residents, like those in New Orleans before Katrina, didn't understand the risks they faced: Levee conditions hadn't been adequately monitored, and even when problems were found, the needed funds hadn't been made available. Simply put, responsibility for dealing with floods had not been adequately defined.

While Christians continue to be drawn in public and media circles as preoccupied with the politics of abortion and gay “marriage,” Christians have also proven passionate on causes that include concern for the environment, and most recently, fair trade. Many companies, recognizing the potential business in catering to faith-based, fair trade minded churches, have moved in to fill the void and meet market demand. Equal Exchange, a Massachusetts-based organic coffee company, is just one of the many companies that has capitalized on the growing concerns of Christians to support fair trade causes.

A global summit over how to feed the hungry and pump up food stocks — tasks that could demand more than $20 billion a year in aid — magnified a debate over diverting grains to produce biofuels in the world's most developed countries. As hundreds of representatives gathered at a United Nations conference Tuesday to address the global food crisis, leading strategists took issue with the increasing interest in and use of ethanol, a cornerstone of an evolving U.S. policy on alternative fuel sources.

With lofty grain prices forcing an estimated 100 million people toward severe hunger, a food summit in Rome this week may help boost emergency relief. But the world faces a long-term crisis in supply, one that needs the same devotion – and results – of the Green Revolution four decades ago. Now the world again faces a food shortage, reflected in a nearly 70 percent price rise over the past two years. With US attention largely diverted to domestic concerns, the June 3-5 food summit is a critical test of whether a collective global leadership can push big reforms in how the world feeds itself.

The Farm Bill certainly should be better. It should include more reform on the commodity titles during this era of high prices for wheat, corn, and soybeans, and use savings from commodity reforms to provide additional support for nutrition, conservation, and healthy food, especially for America's 40 million poor. But there is no question that the bill is better than the veto option proposed by the president. By using his veto pen, President Bush wanted to extend the existing, flawed, and out-of-date 2002 farm bill into the future.

The House easily overrode President Bush's veto of a $307 billion farm bill last night in what appeared to be the most significant legislative rebuff of Bush's presidency. But a legislative glitch is likely to force embarrassed Democratic leaders to pass the bill all over again today -- and prompt a second showdown with Bush next month. The problem came when a House clerk mistakenly dropped a whole section dealing with trade policy from the 673-page bill before it was sent to the White House. Republican leaders argued last night that the House had overriden a veto on legislation that had never actually passed the House and Senate. For the sake of legislative integrity, Democratic aides said, Congress is likely to start the whole process again.

Few pieces of legislation generate the level of public scorn consistently heaped upon the farm bill. Presidents and agriculture secretaries denounce it. Editorial boards rail against it. Good-government groups mock it. Global trading partners formally protest it. Even farmers gripe about it. But as Congress proved again last week, few pieces of major legislation also get such overwhelming bipartisan support — enough, in the case of the current farm bill, to override the veto expected by President Bush any day now.

With food prices and farm incomes soaring, this should be an historic moment to junk a gimmick-laden and wasteful system of agricultural subsidies. But both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have lined up behind a five-year, $300 billion farm bill that changes little. After months of work, the bill has done its job of dribbling reform across an expanse of subsidies and price props. The timing couldn't be more loony as a worldwide food shortage deepens and the same leaders debate wider aid programs to answer global hunger.