TRUMP FAILS FAMILY FARMS IN FIRST YEAR

MINNEAPOLIS-The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) finds President Trump’s first year in office to be failure for Rural America and agriculture. IATP’s experts examined the president and his actions in five key policy areas: Trade, Agricultural Markets, Deregulation, Agencies and Appointments, and Climate. In each aspect, President Trump and his Administration has sided with corporate interests at the expense of family farmers and rural communities, including: 

• Agribusiness mergers, immigrant policies, USDA reorganization, slashing organic incentives and repealing farmers’ protections against meatpacker misconduct has further empowered global corporations while undermining producers;
• Rural communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change would benefit from renewable energy jobs, climate change response plans and improving resiliency, but Trump has sided with the fossil fuel industry;
• Withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a positive for the administration, but many of the worst provisions from TPP are alive in NAFTA renegotiations happening behind closed doors;Trump has slashed the budgets for agencies like the USDA and FDA, hindering their ability protect the public in food, agriculture and communities;
• Incompetence, conflicts of interest and lack of transparency within government agencies is subverting the very basis of American democracy.

"Our research finds that the practices and policies generated by the Trump Administration and the 115th Congress are quickening the erosion of the social contract and are doing so with rigorous intentionality," said Juliette Majot, IATP Executive Director. "We have a president who is bad for our country and by extension, bad for the world. And that needs to change."

IATP's findings show that Trump has broken his campaign promises to fight for Rural America, support family farms, and to drain the swamp. His Administration has consistently acted against the interests of rural communities and irreparable damage could be done if action is not taken from the grassroots level.

Read the full report here.

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Based in Minneapolis with offices in Washington, D.C., and Berlin, Germany, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.