agricultural issues

By Leah Eaton

Iowa State Daily

A national panel of bishops met in Ames to discuss ways to keep

food affordable and accessible around the world through

agriculture.

The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops partnered with Catholic

Charities U.S.A., the social service section of the Catholic Church,

for the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. The conference

was held Friday at the Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 2210

Lincoln Way.

One purpose of the panel is to create a statement to explain the

Catholic stance on many of the farming issues, said Archbishop

Jerome Hanus of Dubuque.

“We need to give a rationale for the position the Catholic Church is

taking on these issues,” he said. “People need to understand

where we are coming from.”

The two Catholic organizations joined forces in 1999 to discuss

agricultural issues out of concern for U.S. farmers. The committee

of five bishops from around the country meets several times a year

to discuss agricultural issues, said Dan Misleh, representative of

the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops.

In Ames, the bishops discussed farming community issues in

hopes of generating ideas to keep the agricultural industry

healthy.

“The meetings are to collect information on agriculture around the

United States, and to prepare a set of recommendations,” Misleh

said. “Food is unlike any other commodity. We are working to keep

it sustainable, affordable, safe and abundant.”

Andy Rivas, representative for Catholic Charities U.S.A., said the

representatives were there to listen and learn from the experience.

Concerns for immigration and farm issues, which sparked

legislation in Congress, prompted the Catholic Charities to get

involved in the effort, Rivas said.

“The farm bill is moving through Congress quicker than expected,”

Misleh said.

“We need to have a cleaner sense of what [is needed for

farmers].”

There are several aspects of the farm bill, including food programs

and the incorporation of food aid, Misleh said.

“We all need to eat to survive,” he said.

“There needs to be more food aid to other countries suffering from

famine, as well as in the United States. [The farm bill] affects real

people and their daily lives.”