Epistemology & Ethics

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Apr 15, 2016 - Totals. 126.5. 86.0. 20.6. 14.0. • Food assistance is 74.9% of 2015 appropriation. • USDA appropriation is 3.7% of ... $0.10 to $1 Light Blue.
Food, Poverty, and Politics: Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide Presented at the Fourth Social Work Symposium The University of Memphis April 15, 2016

Peter A. Kindle, PhD, CPA, LMSW The University of South Dakota Department of Social Work [email protected]

Learning Objectives  To understand federal support for food production and the financial lives of American farmers and ranchers.  To understand the rural-urban divide, the mythologies that sustain it, and the challenges of reconciliation.  To investigate alternative policy proposals and our ethical obligations to reduce food insecurity in America.

Farms in America, 20121 Farm Sales

N

%

1,193,977

56.6

$10,000-49,999

397,827

18.9

$50,000-99,999

129,366

6.1

$100,000-499,999

232,955

11.0

> $500,000

155,178

7.4

< $10,000

Total • • • •

2,109,303

1,828,946 or 86.7% are family or individually owned. Only 1,007,904 or 47.8% are the primary occupation of owner. Average value of land is $1,075,491. Average value of machinery and equipment is $115,706.

USDA Appropriations, 20152 (in billions of dollars)

Category SNAP

USDA Mandatory

%

81.8

55.6

WIC, CFSP Child Nutrition

USDA Discretionary

%

7.1

4.9

21.3

14.5

8.7

5.9

13.4

9.1

Other

1.3

.9

13.5

9.1

Totals

126.5

86.0

20.6

14.0

Fed Crop Insurance Commodity Credit Corp

• Food assistance is 74.9% of 2015 appropriation. • USDA appropriation is 3.7% of federal spending in 2015.

USDA In Context (in billions of 2015 dollars)

Farms2  Food $110.1

Income Supports3  Food $104.8 billion  EITC $60.1  Child Tax Credit $20.6

 SSI $54.7  2.1 million farms

 TANF $15.9

 Non-food $37

 Other $23.0  Total $279.1  Poor families 8.9 million

 $77,700 / farm

 $31,360 / family

22.1 million households receive SNAP or $12,629/household.

A Brief History of Farming4  Louisiana Purchase (1803) and Manifest Destiny  War with Mexico (1846-1848)  Annexation of Texas (1845)  Homestead Act (1862) – 160 acres free (apply, improve, acquire deed)  Transcontinental Railroad (1869)  Oklahoma (1889) and closing of the frontier  The Dust Bowl (1930s)

Sharecropping in south (1870-1950)

 First Farm Bill (1933) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (1933-1942)  Earl Butz, USDA (1954-1976): Get Big or Get Out

Agricultural Subsidies, 1995-2014 ($322.7 billion)5 9% 13% 57%

21%

Disaster Programs

Conservation Programs

Crop Insurance

Commodity Programs

An average of $153,667/farm over 20 years.

Subsidies by Crop, 1995-2014 ($245 billion)5 Subsidy 12%

39%

Corn

Wheat

Cotton

Soybean

Rice

Other

These five commodities receive 88% of all agricultural subsidies.

Subsidy Recipients, 1995-20145 Gross Farm Sales

Farms

Payments (billions)

% of Payments

Average Payment

Top 1%

29,968

$47.3

26%

$1,576,901

Top 10%

299,682

$141.4

77%

$471,717

Top 20%

599,634

$166.5

91%

$277,750

2,397,460

$17.2

9%

$7,183

Bottom 80%

• Commodity subsidies are less than a third of US agricultural production. • Subsidies support unhealthy high fructose corn syrup additives. • Subsidies encourage overproduction of certain crops. • Subsidies encourage planting on marginal land. • Subsidies support “dumping” on international markets that harm others.

Federal Taxes Received for Every Dollar Paid by State6 Over $1.50 Dark Red $1.1 to 1.49 $1.01 to 1.10 Pink $0.61 to 0.79 Dark Blue $0.81 to 0.88 $0.92 to 0.97 Light Blue

2014 Ag Subsidies by State5

Over $40 million Dark Red $10 to 40 million $1 to $10 million Pink $100,000 to 1 million Light Blue Under $100,000 Dark Blue

Political Power of Ag Subsidies Subsidies per Capita * * *

* *

* **

* * *

*

* *

*

*

Over $10 Dark Red $5 to $10 $1 to $5 Pink

$0.10 to $1 Light Blue Under $0.10 Dark Blue * Indicates states with disproportionate representation in Senate.

The Local Picture People Served, Clay County, SD 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Improvement in 2014 Farm Act  Greater emphasis on food programs.  Cancellation of Direct Payment based on historical yields.  Cancellation of Counter-cyclical payments.

 Two alternative ways of calculating subsidies based on recent yields  Remaining problems:  Subsidizing both crop insurance and disaster aid  Subsidizing more acreage and conservation

Rural Value Mythologies7 Mythologies7 Informal helping networks Sense of self-reliance Rural Realities Rural = Welfare Rural = Power Disparities Rural > Urban

Our Professional Ethics Preamble to NASW Code of Ethics  The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. . . . Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.

So now that you know about Food and Politics, what are you going to do about it?

Problems Noted • Commodity subsidies are unjustifiable. • Subsidies support unhealthy high fructose corn syrup additives. • Subsidies encourage overproduction of certain crops. • Subsidies encourage planting on marginal land. • Subsidies support “dumping” on international markets that harm others. • Subsidizing are fiscally irresponsible (e.g., crop insurance and disaster aid; more acreage and conservation).

Value: Social Justice  Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice. Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers’ social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice. These activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for all people.

Does this go far enough? What else does social justice require of us?

Ethical Responsibility to the Broader Society 6.01 Social Welfare  Social workers should promote the general welfare of society, from local to global levels, and the development of people, their communities, and their environments. Social workers should advocate for living conditions conducive to the fulfillment of basic human needs and should promote social, economic, political, and cultural values and institutions that are compatible with the realization of social justice.

What about power disparities?

Ethical Responsibility to the Broader Society 6.04 Social and Political Action (a) Social workers should engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully. Social workers should be aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and should advocate for changes in policy and legislation to improve social conditions in order to meet basic human needs and promote social justice.

Ethical Responsibility to the Broader Society 6.04 Social and Political Action (b) Social workers should act to expand choice and

opportunity for all people, with special regard for vulnerable, disadvantaged, oppressed, and exploited people and groups.

Ethical Responsibility to the Broader Society 6.04 Social and Political Action (c) Social workers should promote conditions that encourage respect for cultural and social diversity within the United States and globally. Social workers should promote policies and practices that demonstrate respect for difference, support the expansion of cultural knowledge and resources, advocate for programs and institutions that demonstrate cultural competence, and promote policies that safeguard the rights of and confirm equity and social justice for all people.

Ethical Responsibility to the Broader Society 6.04 Social and Political Action (d) Social workers should act to prevent and eliminate domination of, exploitation of, and discrimination against any person, group, or class on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, or mental or physical disability.

Groups 1. Commodity subsidies are unjustifiable. 2. Subsidies support unhealthy high fructose corn syrup additives. 3. Subsidies encourage overproduction of certain crops. 4. Subsidies encourage planting on marginal land. 5. Subsidies support “dumping” on international markets that harm others. 6. Subsidizing are fiscally irresponsible (e.g., crop insurance and disaster aid; more acreage and conservation).

Framework for Managing Ethical Issues8  1. Identify ethical issue – articulate the specific issue.

 2. Determine appropriate help – the most useful.  3. Think critically – brainstorm options, assess consequences.  4. Manage conflict – engage parties in constructive process.  5. Plan and implement decisions – assign responsibility, strategize for success.  6. Evaluate and follow up.

Group Reports

Is there another way?9

 “[W]hen ordinary people just don’t matter to those who get to make the rules, it may be time to break them” (Dodson, 2009, p. viii).  “[W]hen everyday institutions and ordinary rules harm people right in front of you, that provokes a kind of soul searching. . . .” (Dodson, p. 187).

Lisa Dodson’s Moral Underground  8 years conducting 5 research projects.  Meant to study single mothers with low incomes.  Studied the mid-level managers they report to.

 Findings: The moral underground broke  workplace rules so that their subordinates could have decent lives.  school rules so the children were cared for.  insurance guidelines and other rules to provide the health care required.

3.10 Labor-Management Disputes (c) Social workers should not allow an employing organization’s policies, procedures, regulations, or administrative orders to interfere with their ethical practice of social work. Social workers should take reasonable steps to ensure that their employing organization’s practices are consistent with the NASW Code of Ethics.

We have an ethical obligation to be a part of the Moral Underground.

References USDA. (2012). 2012 census highlights. Retrieved from http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Highlight s/Farm_Demographics/



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Monke, J. (2015, February 4). Agriculture and related agencies: FY 2015 appropriations. Congressional Research Service report no. 7-5700. U. S. federal analyst: Estimated versus actual spending for fiscal year 2015. Retrieved from http://www.usfederalbudget.us/federal_budget_estimate_vs_actual_2015_XX bs2n_4041_609#usgs302 Dail, P. vW. (2015). Hard living in America’s heartland: Rural poverty in the 21st century Midwest. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland. EWG Farm Subsidy Database. Retrieved from https://farm.ewg.org/region.php?fips=00000®ionname=theUnitedStates Tax Foundation (2007). Federal tax burdens and spending by state. Special Report No. 158. Daley, M. R. (2015). Rural social work in the 21st century. Chicago: Lyceum.

Barsky, A. E. 2010). Ethics and values in social work: An integrated approach for a comprehensive curriculum. New York: Oxford. Dodson, L. (2009). The moral underground: How ordinary Americans subvert an unfair economy. New York: The New Press.