010390 Hog Farmers Blast Nat’l Pork Producer's Council

Washington - Hog farmer members of the Campaign for Family Farms (CFF) and hundreds of members of National People's Action are descending on the offices of the National Pork Producer's Council (NPPC) to demand the NPPC and USDA honor hog producers' vote and end the pork now.

The action is part of NPA's 30 annual conference. Fifteen hundred community leaders from across the country are attending the conference at the Crystal City Hilton, 2399 Jefferson Davis Highway.

The Campaign for Family Farms, which is made up of hog farmers from Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, and a dozen other states, claimed victory in early January when former Secretary of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced that hog producers had voted down the mandatory pork tax by a 53% to 47% margin in a national referendum held last fall.

Then, in a shocking turn of events, current Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced on Feb. 28 that in alliance with the NPPC that she would allow the pork tax to remain in effect.

CFF members denounced Veneman's decision and vowed to fight it in court and in the countryside. Thousands of people have contacted Veneman, President Bush, and U.S. Senators and Representatives over the past three weeks demanding that they honor democracy, honor producers' vote, and end the pork tax.

"People are fighting back because the Bush Administration has declared war on one of the basic principles that this country was founded on -- the right to vote and the right for our votes to count. We're not going to let Veneman and Bush steal our vote," said Iowa hog farmer Larry Ginter.

Member groups of the Campaign for Family Farms are the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the Land Stewardship Project (Minnesota), and the Missouri Rural Crisis Center.

National People's Action is a 30-year-old coalition of 302 community groups from 38 states. Other issues that will be addressed at the NPA conference include predatory lending, the Community Reinvestment Act, school construction, and affordable housing.

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