Dec 12th, 2011
Dear Senator Klobuchar
1200 Washington Avenue South, Room 250
Minneapolis, MN 55415
As a constituent, I am writing this letter to urge you to vote yes for implementing the GIPSA rules for the 2012 Farm Bill. These rules can be found in the
sections 11005 and 11006 of Title XI of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill). These rules can provide protection for farmers when collaborating or competing against those who run large food corporations.
According to Food and Water Watch, Small/medium sized farmers are being driven out of business due to larger companies setting unfair commodity price standards. The small/ medium sized farmers keep our Minnesota economy strong, and the local community healthy with ethical practices of farming.
The GIPSA rules will protect farmers against large food corporations in many ways. One of which, is prohibiting retaliation against poultry growers who speak out about abuses when trying to cooperate with the large corporations they farm for. These are the farmers that are your potential constituents and need help competing against the corporations who oppose these rules such as Swift, Cargill, and Tyson.
I understand that some of your campaign support relies on large corporations such as General Mill, but you also desire to represent the people of MN. Voting yes on the GISPA rules for the Farm Bill 2012 will allow you to provide support for balance between the corporations and individual farmers that support you.
Thank you for reading over my plea and voicing for the farmers that make Minnesota on of the greatest states in the nation. If you would like to contact me for further conversation, please call 218-591-1111
Sincerely,
Shannon Flaherty
Duluth, MN
Hi Shannon-
ReplyDeleteI most definitely believe that a bill should be passed to enforce fairness among small farmers. I really think it's so sad that small farmers are having to go through such extremes to try to maintain business. In my opinion it just shows that our government system is all about money and not the well-being of mankind!
Hey Shannon. You did a really nice job on this letter. I completely agree that this bill should get passed. Like you said, while they may rely on corporations like GM, I believe more in supporting the people who live in MN. It isn't right or fair what they are doing to smaller farms. I hope this bill gets passed so that everyone is treated equally!
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