FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Shawnda Hines (301) 960-4913, cell
September 27, 2007

Religious Leaders Push Kentucky Senators for
Equity in the Farm Bill

WASHINGTON - More than a dozen bishops and regional religious leaders serving churches and faith groups in Kentucky have signed letters to Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning, urging them to work for equity in the farm bill when the Senate takes up the legislation in October. Clergy who signed the letter represent regional offices of such theologically diverse faith communions as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church, Roman Catholic Church and Kentucky Baptist Fellowship.

Hand delivered on September 26 and 27, the letters signed by Kentucky faith leaders are part efforts by a national religious coalition, led by the anti-hunger organization Bread for the World, advocating for changes to the farm bill that would provide more equitable support to farmers of modest means and help make progress against hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world.

"It is an injustice to give priority to special interests rather than meet the most pressing needs in rural America or do what we can to reduce hunger," said Larry Hollar, Bread for the World's Regional Organizer for Kentucky. "Our nation's farm policy must help those who need it the most-farmers of modest means, struggling rural communities and hungry people who are working to lift their families out of poverty."

The farm bill passed by the House of Representatives in July included significant increases for nutrition and conservation programs, but failed to reform the current system of commodity payments. The Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to take up the farm bill in early October. Senator Mitch McConnell is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and sits on the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Food Assistance, Sustainable and Organic Agriculture, and General Legislation.

"Kentucky's Senators Bunning and McConnell should remember that Kentucky recently fell again to a lower spot (7th poorest state in the US) on the poverty totem poll, and that the average farm size in Kentucky is 160 acres," said the Reverend Dr. Nancy Jo Kemper, Executive Director of the Kentucky Council of Churches. "Subsidizing the large-scale farming operations does not help the economy of rural Kentucky."


The text of the letter to Senators McConnell and Bunning, and names of signees follows:

In the weeks ahead the Senate begins work on the farm bill. As faith leaders in our respective traditions, we see this bill as an important moral statement of priorities for our nation and world. The farm bill offers the opportunity to:

" begin the transition to a more effective and equitable system of support for U.S. farmers, reducing payments to those who need them least and strengthening help to those who need them most, especially socially disadvantaged farmers;

" strengthen and expand our nation's nutrition programs, including the Food Stamp Program;

" enhance our rural communities, targeting especially those with the greatest need and promoting rural entrepreneurs and small business development;

" improve programs to conserve God's creation, including those that focus on working farms; and

" enact policies that help enable farmers in developing nations to make a living and meet U.S. commitments to international trade requirements.

The current system of commodity payments disproportionately helps relatively wealthy, large-scale farmers of particular crops while offering little or no support for a broad range of farmers of modest means. It provides payments for farmers even when times are good rather than focusing on a strong safety net to sustain revenues and well-being as farmers cope with difficult times. A more equitable system of support that targets help to struggling farmers in this country would save money--savings that could be used to strengthen the Food Stamp and other nutrition programs and provide more funds for effective rural development and conservation, all of which are needed in the Commonwealth.

Improvements to our nation's farm payment policies would avoid payments that exert downward pressure on already low crop prices. These changes would assist small and moderate size farms at home and help farmers abroad who struggle to gain a foothold and compete in their own markets because of the impact of the current U.S. commodity payment system.

Our faith sees those who live nearby and far away as neighbors for whom we care and with whom we work for a better world. A farm bill that does more to support the aspirations of farmers and rural communities in Kentucky, throughout our country, and in the world would provide a stronger moral framework than the current farm bill has provided.

The Senate will soon have an opportunity to improve on the farm bill the House of Representatives recently passed and to truly create a more equitable and sustainable farm policy for the years ahead. Please do everything in your power to ensure that the Senate's version of the farm bill reforms farm commodity payments to provide more fairness to struggling family farmers here in the U.S. and in the poorest parts of the world.

We pray that you and other members of the Senate will consider our request during the farm bill deliberations this fall.

In peace,

The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr.
Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky
Louisville, KY

Larry Hollar
Regional Organizer for Kentucky
Bread for the World
Dayton, OH

Rev. Charles A. Jack
Superintendent, Red Bird Missionary Conference, United Methodist Church
Beverly, KY

The Rev. Dr. Nancy Jo Kemper
Executive Director
The Kentucky Council of Churches
Lexington, KY

Rev. Dr. John Lepper, Coordinator
Kentucky Baptist Fellowship
Louisville, KY

The Rev. Fr. Martin A. Linebach
Ecumenical Officer
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville
Louisville, KY

The Rev. Dr. David W. McKee
Interim General Presbyter
Presbytery of Transylvania
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Lexington, KY

The Rt. Rev. Vashti McKenzie
Presiding Prelate
Bishop of the 13th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
Nashville, TN

The Most Rev. John McRaith
Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro
Owensboro, KY

The Rev. Betty Meadows
General Presbyter
Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Louisville, KY

The Rev. Peggy Owens
Associate General Presbyter for Education and Mission
Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Louisville, KY

Bishop James Stuck
Indiana-Kentucky Synod
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Indianapolis, IN

Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Webster
Associate Conference Minister of the Southern Area
Indiana-Kentucky Conference
United Church of Christ
Evansville, IN

The Rev. Dick Wills
Resident Bishop, Nashville Area
United Methodist Church
Jackson, TN

(Note: Organizations listed for identification only)