Why
Agriculture???
By
Heather Davis, Vermont Oxfam Action Corps Co-Organizer
I have been doing a bit of reflection lately, and one
question I’ve asked myself is: “Why am I so
interested in agricultural development?”
I don’t farm – I barely have a vegetable garden, although I did have a
large one and some chickens at one time in my past life, pre-children. I am not a good cook, or a natural cook
in any sense of the word – although I do love and appreciate healthy, fresh
food. Nor is it simply a romantic
notion about rural life and farming – I have lived in rural areas for most of
my life and know first-hand the hard work and realities of farming.
What I think it comes down to is that I know that about
one-third of the worlds’ population works in agriculture – including 43% of
women in developing countries. I
know that the majority of those that are hungry around the world are actually
farmers. I see the injustices in
our current food system – both to people and the earth. I know that everyone deserves the
chance to live their lives to their full potential, and agriculture can be the
avenue to such a promise.
I feel as though one of the ways to live out my values of
simplicity, supporting people, and working with the earth is to promote
agriculture – small-scale, sustainable agriculture, whether it be local
(Vermont for me) or global (read up on the current Farm Bill). I have been fortunate to be involved
with both levels of supporting farming.
I am truly blessed with
my current work at the Center for an Agricultural Economy in Hardwick, VT,
which is an organization that works to develop the local food system. My specific work there includes
monitoring and project work and I am able to contribute to the promotion of
well-being in the community in which I live – a rural community whose history
is steeped in agriculture and which is experiencing a synchronistic renaissance
of sustainable rural development.
I have also recently had the great opportunity to get
involved with Oxfam America – an
impressive international relief and development organization – as one of two
organizers for the Vermont Oxfam Action Corps. This allows me to stay connected to my passion for working
toward equal opportunities for people around the world. Nobody should be left behind because of
where they were born, and by left behind I don’t mean they don’t have the
opportunity to shop at the local mall for frivolous impulses. I mean to be able to feed their
families, have some leisure time, and not have to take desperate measures to
provide themselves and their families with their basic needs.
A famine is currently developing in the Sahel region of West
Africa, which follows a famine in East Africa last year. This is completely unacceptable in
current times – we have the ability to prevent the suffering and deaths that
have and will happen, if we prioritize it. Let us all hold these people in our hearts and minds as we
go about our lives. But more than
that, let us work toward making famine history.
There are two approaches to the promotion of well-being and
meeting basic needs among those who are currently struggling in the Sahel: emergency aid and long-term
development. Currently we can make
a difference to those in the Sahel and other regions in need by contacting our
representatives in the House of Representatives and ask them to include a
provision in the current Farm Bill to increase local purchasing of food aid and
to eliminate the monetization of food aid. Food aid, as it is currently implemented, is a very
inefficient system that is fraught with special interests that contradict the
intended purpose of food aid. You
can also sign
this petition with Oxfam.
Everyone deserves a chance at providing a good life for
themselves and their families, and with about one-third of the world making
their living in agriculture, investing in small-scale farmers is a way to do so
with tremendous impact.
[If you’re interested in getting involved with the Vermont
Oxfam Action Corps, please email Heather and Kayla at
Vermont@oxfamactioncorps.org and “Like” us on Facebook]
