Global supply chain disruptions, rising prices for foods and farm production inputs, increasing evidence of agriculture’s impact on climate change, and unconscionable numbers of people experiencing hunger and food insecurity set the tone of the World Trade Organization’s 12th Ministerial meeting which was held in Geneva, Switzerland during the week of June 12.

Iowa farmers, and Iowans as a whole, in fact, all the world’s people, need stability in agriculture and in our food system, not volatility and fragility. We are led to believe that it is good that Iowa is in the top two producers of corn, soybeans, eggs, and pork, with a promise of new markets to raise prices. This path has not benefited farmers, communities, or our precious ecosystem. We need policies that allow farmers to be paid a fair (parity) price, to have diversity in our production system with livestock on farms and beneficial crop rotations. For us to have any chance of achieving these goals and to end food insecurity at home and elsewhere, the World Trade Organization must get out of agriculture.

As individuals and as a society, we recognize - and often celebrate - anniversaries. These dates help us remember important moments in our lives, and also mark the passage of time. By looking back, we can gauge progress or growth or accomplishments. 

One anniversary was two years ago this week when my op-ed about the stress farmers face, which can too often lead to family tensions, drug abuse, and even suicide, was published in the Des Moines Register. The reality of the dire situation of our farm economy had hit me so strong that I wrote this piece quickly, out of a sense of compassion and urgency. It was published to coincide with National Suicide Prevention Week.

It was this same week, in 2003, that a farmer from South Korea sacrificed his own life outside a meeting of the WTO (World Trade Organization) in Cancun, Mexico where thousands of farmers from around the world had gathered to protest free trade agreements. A banner around his neck read, “WTO Kills Farmers.”