Last week, I joined other AJWS food justice advocates at Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s district office in Manhattan, where we discussed reforms to the Farm Bill, which is set for reauthorization this year. Senator Gillibrand currently serves on the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. At the meeting, we spoke with Senator Gillibrand’s Senior Advisor Patti Lubin about the bill’s impact on the hungry throughout the world and how we must do better. We were thrilled to get to speak with Senator Gillibrand’s staff, through whom she has the potential to influence others and introduce early amendments to this bill.
Since our meeting coincided with Passover, I couldn’t help but try to understand this issue in a Jewish context. How might Jewish teaching inform international food aid policy? Exploring the lessons of Passover, I tried to think of how my freedom and duty of responsibility are joined together. As many of us contemplate the history of our own slavery, I can’t help but feel free because I do not have to worry about hunger in my own life. Acknowledging my own sense of freedom, I am reminded of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, “No one is free until everyone is free.” As a Jew, I have a responsibility to speak out and influence others to fight against injustice, wherever it exists. As the Passover Haggadah says, “This is the bread of affliction our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat; let all who are in need come share our Passover.”
During the meeting we discussed the current shipping and purchasing requirements that delay critical food aid—aid that can mean the difference between life and death. According to AJWS and Oxfam’s latest report, if we amended the Farm Bill by ending food aid monetization and removing U.S. shipping and purchasing requirements, we could provide aid to 17.1 million more hungry people at no additional cost to taxpayers. In the halls of Congress, legislators are debating the bill and need to understand why ending food monetization and purchasing food locally will save lives. Our voice is needed in these next few months to ensure that legislators grasp what’s at stake in this bill.
The above reforms to the Farm Bill can go a long way to creating self-sufficiency, which is needed for individuals and communities that are in need of aid. An example of our current approach to food aid can be seen most recently in Haiti, where the U.S. donated rice following the 2010 earthquake. This coincided with Haiti’s rice growing season, and the influx of cheap U.S. rice devastated the incomes of local farmers. This approach often doesn’t address the larger goal of self-sufficiency—where aid can build a community up. We learn in Judaism that the highest level of tzedakah, translated as justice, is to enable the receiver to be self-sufficient. The Farm Bill must move toward enabling individuals and communities to become self-sufficient and truly free.
Overall, our meeting at Senator Gillibrand’s office was a success. Patti Lubin was very receptive to our points and signaled that the Senator may support these issues. Our next step is to work with her staff to confirm this support and encourage Senator Gillibrand to be an advocate on this issue. We also need to keep the momentum going and discuss the importance of the Farm Bill with more senators and U.S. House members.
This is where you can really get involved and help. All elected officials track letters of support on legislative matters. In fact, Senator Gillibrand’s staff was thrilled to receive a stack of postcards supporting a Just Farm Bill. In a few seconds, you can simply click on this link and let your representatives know that this issue has support and action is needed. The more support elected officials know is out there, the more likely these needed changes will become a reality.
Elizabeth Buck is a Master’s Candidate at the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at NYU. She previously managed former Congressman Sestak’s campaign office in Ardmore, PA during his United States Senate campaign.
