Published in St. Cloud Times, St. Cloud, MN
July 19, 2005
Dear Editor,
Once again Sen. Coleman (R-MN) is on the wrong side of the fence with his recent vote to support the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). His choice to sell out to corporate interests is not only a slap in the face to struggling family farmers, but also threatens urban workers, consumers, and those concerned about the steady erosion of our nation’s democracy.
Anyone familiar with the disaster spawned by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) can easily imagine the nightmare CAFTA will unleash. NAFTA led to the reckless "dumping" of taxpayer subsidized corn on Mexico, genetically contaminating the country’s native varieties and driving thousands of peasants into bankruptcy and across the border. Under NAFTA's infamous Chapter 11, foreign investors can now sue governments to guarantee their profit margins, basically taking away the right of local control. NAFTA even made it possible for U.S. mega-dairies to import 2.5 million animals per year, at least until Mad Cow came along…
Under CAFTA, these same corporate interests stand to profit even more by bringing in milk, livestock, produce, and sugar from offshore factory farms and plantations, rather than paying U.S. farmers a fair market price. Sweetened condensed milk from Panama can already be found on store shelves in the Midwest! Once the flood gates are open, even more milk protein concentrate, casein, butter blends, and other dubious (but dirt cheap) dairy products from who knows where will end up here.
Meanwhile, the rest of us have to deal with the harsh reality that the U.S. is now a food deficit nation, with a debilitating trade imbalance and a declining reputation abroad. The reckless "race to the bottom" that comes with such global "free-for-all" deals ultimately hurts everyone. Declining prices for farmers, lower wages for
workers, more human rights abuses, growing consumer safety threats, erosion of democratic freedoms - these should not be the consequences of economic progress in the 21st century.
Hopefully, more responsible MN politicians will properly represent their constituents and vote down CAFTA when it comes before the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sincerely,
John E. Peck
executive director
Family Farm Defenders
