Farming, Agricultural Workers and Union Organization (1947)

[Charleston Chew]

Run time: 20:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ZRl-hw4RU   Posted on YouTube: January 15, 2011 By YouTube Member: thefilmarchive Views on YouTube: 5   Posted on DU: January 15, 2011 By DU Member: Charleston Chew Views on DU: 335

 
"Seed for Tomorrow: Farming, Agricultural Workers and Union Organization (1947)"

Lee Hays (March 14, 1914 -- August 26, 1981), was an American folk-singer and songwriter, best known for singing bass with The Weavers. Throughout his life, he was concerned with overcoming racism, inequality, and violence in society. Hays wrote or co-wrote "Wasn't That a Time?", "If I Had a Hammer, "and "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", which became Weavers' staples. He also familiarized audiences with songs of the 1930s labor movement, such as "We Shall Not be Moved."

The National Farmers Union (officially Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union of America) is a national federation of State Farmers Union organizations in the United States. It is the second largest general farm organization in the country, after Farm Bureau. The organization was founded in Point, Texas, in 1902 and is now headquartered in Washington, D.C. Today, the organization continues its original mission: to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers and ranchers and their rural communities. It does this by promoting legislation and education beneficial to farmers, and by developing cooperative buying and selling methods and businesses. The current president is Roger Johnson, and the vice president is Claudia Svarstad.

Today, the National Farmers Union represents more than a quarter million family farms and ranches across the United States. There are organized chapters in 32 different states, and proposals are often started at the local level before moving up to the state and national levels. Once in the spring and once in the fall, leaders of the NFU convene in Washington, D.C., to talk with legislators about solutions to problems they are facing.

The National Farmers Union was founded in 1902, and since then has been politically involved in many issues. It was only a year later that they formed their first marketing cooperative. In the early 1900s they campaigned for both a parcel post system, direct election of senators, and voting rights for women. Their efforts also led to the enactment of the Federal Farm Loan Act. This act established twelve Federal Land Banks.

In 1930 the organization established a youth education program, and in 1936 it promoted the Commodity Exchange Act. In 1934, it absorbed the once-powerful American Society of Equity.<2> In 1943, the NFU campaigned to make school lunches permanent, and two years later was a founding member of Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE). The NFU once again made their mark on school lunches when they helped pass school milk legislation through Congress. 1954 also saw the organization fight for a refund of the federal gas tax for gasoline used for agricultural purposes.

In 1966, NFU worked to fight poverty by founding Green Thumb (now known as Experience Works), which secures employment for low-income and older workers. When efforts were made to eliminate the United States Department of Agriculture as a cabinet-level agency, the NFU was successful in blocking these efforts.

During the 1970s, the NFU was influential in the development of rural health systems, and was also included as part of the World Hunger Action Council. In 1980, the organization was influential in passing a capital gains tax on foreigners who held US farmland.

In 1982, the NFU was influential in getting a portion of the military budget shifted to humanitarian food aid using commodity surpluses from the US. In 1990, the organization pushed for increased regulation of and a national standard for organically-produced food. In 2002, the NFU was one of the leaders of a coalition of 165 farm and consumer groups which helped establish mandatory country-of-origin labeling. It took even more additional effort in order for the country-of-origin labeling to be officially implemented, and the National Farmers Union led the charge. The labeling finally went into effect October 2006.

[annm4peace]

1. thanks.. shared with friends and family

we need to bring back the Farm Labor Party..... farm not to mean Corporate farms