EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Eight, Number Four May/June 1999 FARMERS' CO-OP MARKETS THROUGH CHURCHES "CARGILL PROFITS FROM DECLINE IN FARM PRICES; 53% JUMP IN EARNINGS EXPECTED" That was a newspaper headline on April 17th. On April 18th, 600 farmers met with Midwest congresspersons, the director of the US Justice Department's anti-trust division and officials from the US Department of Agriculture. They expressed their anger, frustration and powerlessness at being squeezed out of the market and driven out of business. According to the article, four pork packers control 54%, four beef packers hold 68%, and four flour millers have 62% of their respective markets. One group of Central Minnesota farmers, struggling to practice sustainable agriculture, decided early in 1998 to circumvent conventional marketing by forming the Whole Farm Cooperative and selling directly to consumers through church congregations. The 30 members of the Whole Farm Cooperative include family farmers, the White Earth Reservation Land Recovery Project (a project to buy back Native American lands) and Camp Hill Village for the handicapped. The project is partially funded through a grant from USDA-SARE. At Judson Memorial Baptist Church in Minneapolis, 25 customers receive monthly order sheets listing products and prices for beef, pork, lamb, eggs, cheese and many other items. They pick up their orders at the church, and mail their payments directly to the Cooperative. Church attendance is high on delivery Sundays, reports the coordinator, Beth Waterhouse. Participants appreciate the high quality of the food. They also see this as a program in social justice. While co-op pork farmers were earning 12 to 40 cents per pound live weight through conventional marketing, they have been earning as much as $1 per pound live weight through the cooperative. Sales manager Tim King is now making presentations on the benefits of partnership in 8 metropolitan area churches. The Minnesota Catholic Rural Life Office provides basic information and resources to help Catholic parishes develop their programs. For more information write Tim King, Whole Farm Cooperative, RR2, Maple Hill, Long Prairie MN 56347; 320/732-6203; <timking@maroon.tc.umn.edu>. For educational resources, write Dale Hennen, Archdiocese Rural Life Office, 105 Third St. NW, Montgomery MN 56069; phone and fax: 651/ 645-8590. Home     Table of Contents