Principles for a Rural Movement
On April 26, over 75 leaders concerned about the future of rural America came together in Minneapolis to explore how they might build a powerful movement that would reverse the decline of rural communities, reinvigorate the rural political voice and develop the inherent assets and natural resources to build strong rural economies.

Participants agreed to work at the local, regional and national level as part of this effort. IATP was asked to help form a small secretariat that would take this work forward. Regional meetings are being planned for the prairie states and the South, and already some local meetings have been held to take up the issues. The first project of the group is to develop a set of principles to guide future activities. This project is underway online.

UN Leader Speaks to Minnesota Crowd on Effort to End Poverty
A top United Nations official and one of Minnesota's most successful business leaders spoke before over 300 people at a town hall meeting on June 1 about a historic global effort to end poverty and improve the lives of children. The event, "Today's Children, Tomorrow's Security: How the UN's Millennium Development Goals will Transform the World," was cosponsored by IATP and held at the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.

Eveline Herfkens, the UN Executive Coordinator of the Millennium Development Goals, explained how important and achievable this global effort is, particularly for the extreme poor in sub-Saharan Africa. Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chair and CEO of Carlson Companies and cofounder of the World Childhood Foundation, spoke of the role of business in helping to meet some of the goals. Minnesota State Rep. Keith Ellison discussed efforts to improve conditions for Minnesota children living in extreme poverty.

Photos and audio archives of the event are available at iatp.org/minnesotaglobal.

Hospitals Catching on to Healthy Food, New Report Finds
Hospitals around the country are starting to follow their own advice to patients about the importance of a beneficial diet by offering fresh, healthy food at their facilities, according to a new report released by IATP.

The average U.S. hospital serves more than a million meals per year. Most serve not only patients and staff but also visitors and the larger community through onsite cafeterias, vending machines and catering services. The report offers several case studies of hospitals finding ways to offer more fresh food, raised locally or organically, to patients in their rooms, in cafeterias and via on-site farmers markets.

The report, Healthy Food, Healthy Hospitals, Healthy Communities: Stories of Health Care Leaders Bringing Fresher, Healthier Food Choices to their Patients, Staff and Communities, is authored by IATP's Marie Kulick. IATP is currently recruiting Midwestern hospitals to participate in a farm-to-hospital pilot program. For more information, contact Marie Kulick at mkulick@iatp.org.

Read the full report at iatp.org/foodandhealth.

New Online Courses from the Earth Council and IATP
IATP is teaming up again with the Earth Council to offer several new online courses on global trade. After a successful in-country pilot run, three new courses have been developed as open courses:

• Introduction to the Multilateral Trading System: This short-term course discusses the history of the multilateral trading system from the post-World War II era, with the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to the evolution of the World Trade Organization.
• Trade in Agriculture: This short-term course discusses the establishment of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and its current state-of-play negotiations. It also includes the recent call by African countries to address unfair trade of cotton. The course outlines country positions and interests in negotiations and analyzes various potential developments in future negotiations.
• Trade in Services: This short-term course will provide an overview of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, including its key provisions and current and future effects on country members. It also analyzes the various potential outcomes of those provisions still under negotiation.

For more details, go to earthcouncil.com.

IATP Awarded USDA Grant to Expand Biomass Market
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service awarded IATP a $250,000 grant this month to help promote the growth of the biomass energy market in northern Minnesota. As part of the grant, IATP will partner with the Superior National Forest, the Laurentian Energy Authority and cooperative logging business Forest Management Systems.

Northern Minnesota provides an ideal ecosystem to support a biomass energy plant. These plants create energy through burning trees, timber residue, brush and other forms of woody material. Biomass energy has less toxic emissions, is "carbon neutral" reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and creates employment for the area. The Virginia and Hibbing Public Utilities, through a partnership known as Laurentian Energy, are planning to refit their existing power generation facilities to burn woody materials.

"Biomass energy is an exciting opportunity to improve forest and land management, generate renewable energy and support the local economy," said Don Arnosti, IATP's Forestry Director. "It is a new area of sustainable economic development and there are a lot of unknowns. This project is designed to shed light on some of these unknowns related to equipment, cost, and sustainable biomass harvest limits."

Follow the project's progress at IATP's Community Forestry Resource Center.

Indigenous Aquaculture Network Holds Second Convening
The First Nations Development Institute, IATP and Heifer International recently held the second Indigenous Aquaculture Network convening from April 12-14 at Camp Indianola, Wash. The Suquamish Nation graciously hosted this convening that brought together a diverse group of Native American fisheries and cultural resource specialists to address past, present and future practices in indigenous fisheries and aquaculture.

Details about the convening can be found at iatp.org/fish.

CAFTA, NAFTA: Don't Be Fooled Again
"Lately, we've heard a lot of talk from the Bush Administration about how the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is going to benefit our economy, particularly farmers," writes IATP's Dennis Olson in a new commentary. "We all heard the same promises over 10 years ago before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect. This time around, CAFTA supporters are having a tougher time convincing farmers that this flawed trade model will work for them."

Olson writes, "CAFTA is modeled directly on NAFTA. Remember when supporters of NAFTA's deregulation of national borders promised that farmers would `export their way to prosperity?' But just like Enron's promises of lower energy prices through market deregulation, the myth of export-oriented agriculture has been exposed."

Read Olson's full commentary at tradeobservatory.org.

Romania's Rural Communities Challenged by EU Accession
Eastern European countries such as Romania are facing new challenges in their rural communities as they prepare to join the European Union. Can traditional rural life, farming values and the ecological and cultural diversity that it represents be preserved and thrive as these countries integrate into a giant new economic system?

IATP's Jim Kleinschmit traveled to the Transylvanian region of Romania in early May and spoke about the experiences of U.S. farmers and rural communities at the conference, "Sustainable Rural Development: Traditional Agriculture Challenged by EU Accession." The conference was organized by Project Harvest Hope, Harvest Hope Pro Homorod Foundation, the Unitarian Church of Romania and Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania.

For more details go to harvesthope.uua.org

A Dialogue on Fairer Food and Agricultural Markets
In April, at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., representatives from governments, academia and consumer organizations discussed how to build a fairer agricultural trade system that stops dumping and benefits developing countries.

The conference, "Towards Fairer Food and Agricultural Markets," was organized by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), a consortium of about 60 U.S. and European Union consumer and public interest groups. IATP's Steve Suppan is the U.S. co-chair of the Trade Working Group that organized the workshop.

IATP's Mark Ritchie made a presentation on the fair trade market and agricultural dumping. Panelists discussed the process and evolution of agricultural policies within the United States and Europe, the effect of agribusiness market share concentration on consumers and U.S. and EU positions at the World Trade Organization agriculture agreement negotiations.

A summary report of the meeting and TACD's briefing paper on agricultural export dumping can be viewed at tacd.org.

For more details, go to tradeobservatory.org.

Japanese Farmer/Consumer Delegation Tours U.S.
A delegation of Japanese farm and consumer groups, led by IATP board member Mika Iba, toured the U.S. earlier this month to better understand safeguards in place to protect against the spread of mad cow disease. Japan is currently considering whether to lift a ban on U.S. beef put in place after the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S. and Canada.

The Japanese group met with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials in Washington, D.C., and then traveled to the Midwest where it met with IATP and other consumer organizations. The group also toured several Midwestern family farms that produce beef.

Japan recently reported the discovery of its 20th case of mad cow. The delegation was skeptical that the U.S. has put in place strong enough safeguards to prevent mad cow tainted beef from entering the food supply.

Donate to IATP! You can help. IATP does very important work to keep family farmers on the land, to ensure the safety of our food supply and to preserve biodiversity and the environment for future generations. We cannot do this work without you. Your tax-deductible contribution will help us secure a sustainable world. Please make your tax-deductible contribution today. If you would like more information about our programs, or if you would like to discuss different contribution options, please contact Kate Hoff, Development Director, at khoff@iatp.org or (612) 870-3404. We appreciate your interest in our work. Thank you for your support.

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IATP News is an occasional publication reporting on recent events and activities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). It is sent to board members, supporters, partners and friends. If you want to learn more about any particular item or if you do not want to receive this newsletter, send email to Communications Coordinator Ben Lilliston at blilliston@iatp.org or call: 612-870-3416. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
Mark Ritchie, President
2105 First Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA
Tel. 1 (612) 870-0453 Fax. 1 (612) 870-4846
Email: iatp@iatp.org Web: iatp.org