The Scarlet and Black, September 5, 1975—1). 7

Yes, the bureaucrats in Washington are aware
oi an enchanted land of corn and soybean ﬁelds
somewhere “out there." They even realize lowa
produces one is "h at the corn and one sixth of
the soybean crop yield in the country. They may
even (possibly77) take that lact into account
when formulating the nation‘s food policy.

Grinncll college political scientist Wayne
Meyer recently traveled to the nation's capital to
articulate the predictamcntot the small Midwest
iarmer concerning our present short range tood
policy. He spoke at the Secretary of State's Open
Forum, a medium instituted by Dean Rusk to
present alternative perspectives of America's
loreign policy to State Department otticials,

Meyer stressed the importance of taking the
iarmer's interests into consideration when
considering food policy. He indicated the

Mayer talks 7
:to Open Forum

, precariousness ot the Midwest grain farmer’s

in Washington

position due to inﬂation. outstanding loans and
investments, unpredicatable weather, a lluc-
tuating market, and inconsistent policy. In a
recent article for Foreign Policy Magazine,
Moyer presents a pessimistic yet plausible
future view ot present policy trends.

“Continued low and uncertain commodity
prices may lead to a declining rate of tarm in-
vestment, which means the yields will not be
what they could,” said Moyer. “Bankruptcy is
likely for many farmers. This would probably
further decrease the total number of farms,
making price fixing more possible, particularly
it the tarm land is bought up by major grain
corporations.”

At the discussion, and in his recent article,
Mayer proposed some recommendations for, the
formation of a food policy intended to regain the
tarmer's confidence, increase his chance for
survival, and to benefit the United States as a
whole.

He suggested the elimination of U.S. trade

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export. restrictions on food This would serve two
uselul purposes, Production and commodity
prices would be raised which would benefit the
tarms Also, greater iood exports would benetit
the us balance at payments Mnyer also ad-
viscd increasednational and internatlonal
I‘eservcs of food which will stablillze prices
during bumper years and make up tor crop
ins. s in emergencysituations He also reconl»
mended that assurances are made to farmers
that dumping will not occur during depressed
food markets,

Moyer iett trom Washington with mixed
reactions. He saw an uncoordinated effort with
“Many hands in the pie." He explained that
many at the people influencing lood policy in the
state department were not even Iamllar with
each other.

in an overall view Moyer remarked, “I was
pleased with the apparent interest in the Iowan
farmer's point of View, but a little bit surprised
at the lack of knowledge, and I emerged un-
certain as to the relative strength of the Midwest
grail-l farmer‘s clout as Compared to that of the
Cotton and cattle interests."

He found that the wellrversed diplomats ins
terests seem to lie in other areas than the Mid
West. He was also skeptical of the department
ofﬁcials faith in huge corporation and agri-
business

On the other hand, he was pleasantly surprised
to see sentiment favoring increased price
supports, increased reserves, and limits to the
use of food as a diplomatic tool. He was disap-
pointed, however, to see little attention given to
the subject of food aid.

At the conclusion of his article and throughout
an interview Meyer stressed that two-way
communication between the farmers and
Washington is a first step in easing the farmers’
difficulties

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