ICPJ: April 1987 Brochure of Land, Food and Justice Committee

LFJ Resources
Available from the ICP offiCe:
•Periodicals, newsletters, and
books on food system, hunger, and
agricultural Issues
•U.S and Michigan Department of
Agriculture publications
•Sflde shows, films, and videos
•Relevant articles and pamphlets
·Cookbook featuring food grown by Michigan
farmers Uhere Is a Season>
To find out more about the Land, Food,
and Justice Committee,
•join In our wort.
•barrow a resource,
-arrange for a presentation or get help
In planning a study session,
•make a financial contribution,
please call, write, or visit our office in
the basement of Memorial Christian
Ct"turch. corner of Hill and Tappan in
Ann Arbor.
Interfaith Council
for Peace and Justice
730 Tappan
Ann Arbor. Ml 48104
(313)663-1870
All people, urban and rural,
must recognize that their
lifestyles, purchasing
habits and expectations
contribute directly and
indirectly to the
concentration of land
ownership and the
consequent abuse of the
land. We are called by God
to change our consumption
patterns and to act to
effect justice in the land.
(from ·strangers and Guests•,
Catholic bishops' statement on land
issues, 1980}
The closer we are to
the source of our food,
the more we will care
about how it Is grown.
THE LAND,
FOOD,
JUSTICE
COMMITIEE
lnterfDith Council
for Peace and Justice
730 Tappan
Ann Arbor, Ml 46104
(313)663-1670

The Farm Crisis
•SoU and water threatened by erosion and
pollution.
•Urban development destroying prime farmland.
•Biological diversity replaced by unstable
monocuiiUres.
•Regenerative farming practices and principles
of resource_stewardship abandoned.
·land ownership concentrated into fewer hands.
·Local producers bypassed in favor of large
agribusiness operations.
•Increased use of dangerous chemicals
threatening food and water quality and safety.
•Increasing oorporate control threatening
consumer access to affordable food.
•Growing percentage of food cost going for
processing, packaging, advertising, and
transpor1ation.
•Families losing their farms in record numbers.
·Black-owned farms disappearing at a rate ten
times that of white-owned farms.
·Farmlaborers working in substandard
conditions for low wages and few benefits.
•land ownership denied to beginning farmers
because of huge capital investment
requirements.
•Poor nations supplying rich nations with food
while their own poor go hungry.
•low farm commodity prices forcing farmers to
give up farming or increase their production by
acquiring more land, using marginal rand, and
abandoning good husbandry.
•Government payments to maintain farm Income
favoring large producers.
•U.S. expor1 policy threatening farmers In
other countries by towering agricultural
commodity prices below cost of production.
The Challenge
Our country draws both physical and spiritual
nourishment from an agriculture based on small and
moderate size farms. Many of those farms are
disappearing white the rural communities they
supported are dying. Displaced farmers are joining
the growing ranks of urban iab·seekers, giving up a
productive and satisfying way of life and depriving
society of the skill and wisdom teamed over a tiletime
on the land.
The land, Food, and Justice Committee supports a
just and sustainable food system that will provide an
abundant, safe, and affordable supply of food to all on
this planet. Such a system would:
•provide just compensation to those who grow our
food, both farmers and farmworkers.
·foster a more direct link between producers and
consumers.
·favor a regionally-based food processing and
distribution network.
·encourage all nations to be more se!f·sulliclent in
food production.
•recognize the importance of preserving farmland and
open space near urban areas.
•use technologies that are not harmful to the future
productivity of the land.
•maintain open access to farm ownership.
•have the capacity to respond to food emergencies
anywhere in the world.
Programs and Proiects
of
The Land food and Justice
~
•Presentations to concerned groups.
•Provide study materials and guides.
•Public tours of local farms.
•Promotion of direct marketing projects (e.g.
farmers'malkets and U-Pick farms).
•Encourage more seasonal eating and
preservation of locany grown food.
•Work with groups involved in preserving
agricultural land near urban areas.
•Suppor11eglslation and agricultural research
that favors small and moderate size farms and
sustainable agricul!ural practices. •
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