Legislative Update:

Action is underway to write the 2007 Farm Bill. Recently House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Colin Peterson (D-MN) introduced his version of the Farm Bill. Now, it's the subcommittees turn to work on the bill. A full agriculture committee vote is expected in June and the Chairman still hopes to have the bill voted on by the full House before Congress breaks for the August recess.

Progress in the Senate is expected to fall behind the work in the House, but both Chairmen still insist Farm Bill work will be completed by Thanksgiving. With Farm Bill activity in full swing in Congress, now is the time Members need to hear from you!

A note about Colin Peterson... as a Congressman from MN he has to answer to many large, commodity producing farmers, who get hundreds and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from the government in the form of outdated subsidies. Obviously, they do not want to lose these huge payments, and have dedicated lots of money and power to lobbying Peterson to not propose meaningful reform!

I am very sad to say, but our good speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she is inclined to follow the recommendations of the Ag. Chairman (Colin Peterson)... NOT GOOD!

Once a Farm Bill comes out of the House Agriculture Committee and is sent to the floor for a vote by all 435 members, there will be opportunities for amendments to the bill. This is where Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership have enormous power over the farm bill. The number and type of amendments allowed is essentially controlled by the House leadership. If Colin Peterson really has an agreement with the leadership to prevent a vote on any meaningful amendments to the farm bill on the floor, then anyone pursuing an entirely floor strategy is doomed.

This is a huge deal! If Pelosi blocks amendments on the bill, it is very possible that reforms suppported by the majority of the House will not be in the House version of the Farm Bill because votes will never be allowed. This would be a subversion of democracy- one committee being allowed to write an enormously important piece of legislation without regard to the desires of the rest of the House.

Concert Outreach Opportunities!

We'll be tabling at some great upcoming concerts in the Bay Area, and we need your help. Concert tabling is a lot of fun -- you get to work with great people, rap to more great people about fair trade and the Farm Bill, and you get to watch the show for FREE! Plus, we'll give you a training before the tabling, so you'll either know the answers to people's questions, or you'll at least know where to find them. It's a great way to help build the movement for Farm Bill reform in California while having fun, too.

Bay Area Oxfam Action Corps tabling events at upcoming concerts:

June 1 & 2: Arcade Fire - Greek Theater, Berkeley: www.arcadefire.com

June 9: Live 105 Festival - Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View - NorCal's biggest alternative music festival - Bloc Party, Interpol, Queens Of The Stone Age, Kaiser Chiefs, Social D., and more! www.live105.com

July 1: Warped Tour - Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View - punk, ska & extreme sports festival: www.warpedtour.com

August 3: Reggae Rising - Humboldt - Sly & Robbie, Steel Pulse, Ziggy Marley & more: www.reggaerising.com

Sept 29: Robert Randolph, SF Blues Festival - Great Meadow, Fort Mason, SF - www.sfblues.com




Space is limited, so sign up today! E-mail:
Megimegs1@yahoo.com.

Join The Oxfam Action Corps!

Let us introduce ourselves... we are Megan and Jessica, the Oxfam Action Corps field organizers for the San Francisco Bay Area. We have an extraordinary opportunity to create meaningful positive change during the next few months, and would love your help! Join us as we call on Congress to reduce misguided agriculture subsidies and redirect the money to the programs that need it the most! Please take a minute to join our Bay Area listserve by clicking on "Get Involved" link.

Background: The Oxfam Action Corps started as an initiative to cultivate 20 volunteers from 10 key cities to provide Oxfam America with additional campaigning clout and grassroots outreach. From now through the fall, we will focus on reforming the Farm Bill, a law that will govern our farm, food, and conservation policy over the next five years. The broader goal is to create a strong base of activists for Oxfam’s campaigning work in the future.

Our early efforts have been both fun and effective! Our concert outreach at DJ Shadow was great, and we have many more concert outreach opportunities available to you throughout the summer... dates will be posted soon. Our collaborative World Fair Trade Day celebration in Dolores Park was also very successful and fun, as we joined forces with the Bay Area Fair trade Coalition, Alter Eco, Global Exchange, Equal Exchange, and Barefoot Coffee Roasters to promote fair trade awareness and educate San Francisco residents about their role in reforming the Farm Bill and getting Rep. Pelosi's attention. We would be very excited to have you on board and look forward to working with you soon!

Join Oxfam's campaign to change the rules and double standards that keep farmers from getting a fair price!

Devised during the Great Depression, the Farm Bill was designed to give American farmers a safety net when the market bottomed out.

Today's Farm Bill gives out commodity subsidies, or large government payments made to producers of a small number of crops. Most American farmers get little or nothing. Meanwhile, these subsidies don't alleviate the biggest problems in rural communities: lack of medical services, poor schools, population loss, and environmental degradation.

While the Farm Bill falls short in the US, it also hurts farmers in developing countries. By encouraging the overproduction of crops such as cotton and rice, commodity subsidies create a glut that drives down world prices, undermining the livelihoods of millions of small farmers around the world. This situation is not only unfair; it violates international rules set by the World Trade Organization.

The money we're spending on these misguided subsidies should be redirected to the programs that help the people most in need. More money should go to providing Internet access for rural communities, food stamps for poor families, conservation programs that protect rivers and streams, and the research and development of renewable sources of energy.

The time is right and the momentum is growing. Ask Congress to revamp the Farm Bill. Let's put our tax money to work for farmers, families, and our future.