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Meeting convened by Immediate Past-President Dave shortly for the late arrival of Immediate Past-President Derek, theme for the year ‘Lead the Way’. 

Russ F. led the pledge.

Thought of the Day:  “Any man can be a father; it takes someone special to be a Dad. (Author unknown).  Dreams are renewable, no matter what our age or condition; there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.   Never drive by a lemonade stand without stopping by to buy lemonade from the kids.


INTRODUCTION OF ROTARIAN GUESTS:  Kathy F.  introduced her partner in crime, love of life Bill Roop.  Terry B. introduced, for the last time, foreign exchange student Capucine and her host Mom Peggy Wiley, Caitlin Wiley who is outbound to Peru.  Confusion then reigned with Past President Sheila who tried to introduce the empty seat next to her.   Mo F. introduced, for the last time, guest Monica Lukes.  Elly introduced Val Richman, Mentor-Me-Petaluma Executive Director.

VISITING ROTARIANS:  No visiting Rotarians graced our doorstep today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS / EVENTS.

Sally J. had the honor of undertaking the Induction of new member, Monica Lukes, classification, Commercial and Residential Real Estate Lending.

Sandra C. presented Val Richman, Mentor-Me-Petaluma Executive Director with a $435 check raised for her program.

Jennifer C. outlined the work of the Admin Committee and the new computer system and the new billing system to be tried for six months.  For $87.50 a month will cover all the lunches, debunking and the holiday party.  Option:  increase to $100 and $10 per month will go to your Paul Harris and $2.50 to your Harold Alexander.  It will be reviewed in 6 months for efficiency and ease for members.

Terry B. reintroduced Capucine and her host family.  Certificates of Appreciation were given to her two host Moms.  Capucine was made an Honorary Member of our Club and was inducted as such by Sally J.  Capucine thanked the Club and was given a Club pin by Jerrie P.  

Singing:  President-Elect Jim O. shared the history of our sing-a-longs held at Sunrise Assisted Living.  Next event is June 29th at 3:30, join the troupe.

Reminders of Debunking were mentioned – June 30th, 11 AM – 3 PM at Tuft Farm (4043 Petaluma Boulevard North, Pine Tree Lane).

Banners for RI Convention are available from Jerrie P. 

RYLA Bar-B-Que is held on Thursday (to be confirmed); Dave J. will get the details out to everyone who is interested in volunteering. 

Walt H. reminded that Petaluma invited PVR members to their meeting at the Fairgrounds, June 21st. 


HAPPY DOLLARS, FINES, ETC.: 

Past-President Derek asked JoAnn R-P to celebrate her birthday (she celebrated on the Rotary Walks with an entire block with her new puppy). 

RAFFLE:  50/50 raffle ($134) the wrong color marble was selected by Linda P. 

PROGRAM:  Bob Hill introduced Glenda Humiston who spoke on the US Farm Bill, Actors, Outsiders and New Issues.  Glenda has spent over twenty years working on public policy development and program implementation that supports sustainability.  Toward that goal, Glenda has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia, as Executive Director of nonprofit advocating farmland preservation, and taken on many difficult challenges throughout the western states as a consultant on environmental and agricultural issues.  In that capacity she developed a Rangeland Water Quality Management Plan for the State of California that has become a model in many eastern states and received widespread support. 

She served from 1998 – 2001 as Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at the US Department of Agriculture.  While there she received national honor awards from both USDA and EPA as well as two “Hammer” Awards from Vice President Gore for outstanding government programs.  Glenda holds a BS from Colorado State University and a MS from UC Davis; she is currently working on her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, within the Division of Society and Environment.  She has received a prestigious EPA STAR Fellowship to fund her work, which is directed at finding a new policy framework for the US Farm Bill that incorporates environmental services and sustainability goals.

The Farm Bill issue affects us all, in order to maintain sustainable ag.  What is ‘sustainable ag’; many things to many people.  Ag provides $90 billion annual to the US economy, 18% of all US civilian employment; food and fiber sector accounts for 15% of the gross domestic product.  Our existing policy has accomplished many things.  We spend approximately 11% of our disposal income on food; compared to India which spends approximately 50%.  Originally put into place to ensure a safe, affordable food supply.  We are a global economy, problems with farm policies when applied to international dynamics. 

The Farm Bill covers all ag policies, a multi-year (typically 5-7 years) program.  Big changes, since enactment, included the conservation program.  California doesn’t get subsidy dollars, for the most part.  The origins of the modern Farm Bill were the Depression and the Dust Bowl (dust blew through the halls of Congress).  The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 holds ten titles, including, commodities, conservation, trade, etc.  The Farm Bill fits into the Federal Tax Dollar in a very small way – check out www.deathandtaxes.org for interesting information.  By far, the Ag bill monies go to Food Stamps, WIC, School Lunches and Commodity Grants.  The Commodity Support monies is the
‘big fight this year’; a complicated system with very few people knowledgeable on the issues.

Problems with the US Farm Bill:  subsidies, payment go to a small percentage of the biggest farmers and only for targeted commodities; payments vary widely by region.  California monies mostly go to cotton and rice.  Environmental degradation is a major issue – money going to plant cotton where nothing should be planted.  Very powerful forces vested in the status quo – mostly through the mid-west.  Those states are very powerful in Congressional committees.  Presently 3 firms export 81% of the US corn; 4 firms control 80% of the US soybean crush, 3 firms control 84% of the beef production.  Bio-fuels have driven the price of corn skyward, which is incredibly impactful to farms that rely on corn to feed livestock.  Biggest lobbies are cotton, corn and beef – little gets changed. 

Glenda talked about the toxics produced that adversely affect areas downstream, including air quality in the central valley area of California.  Food safety is a growing issue; it has woken up a lot of people who didn’t pay attention in the past.  Wheat gluten – country of origin disclosure was enacted but never implemented.  Ethics of how food production is operating has come into question. 

The politics of Farm Bill are regional – less partisan; very urban vs. rural; juggling occurs.  The 2007 US Farm Bill is heating up, requesting $5 billion more than 10-year OMB baseline.  Commodity programs would receive $4.5 billion less and conservation would receive $7.8 billion more.  Many organizations have prepared a wide array of position papers and are actively lobbying.  Glenda outlined the nine bills sitting in Committee and now being considered.  Big fight on whether the Committee gets to write the Bill versus a ‘floor fight’ where all Congress members get to participate.  Glenda presented the Institutional Analysis – the players who ran the past Farm Bills.  For the last two years the conservation groups have been joined by the minor and specialty crop farmers.  The Farm Bureau have flipped from pushing eliminating the farm subsidies, during a non-Farm Bill year, to now pushing to keeping the Farm Bill.  Now the large fast-food players (i.e. KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc.) are emphatic about eliminating farm programs that restrict Free Trade.  Glenda discussed the Doha Round, which is now stalled in 2006 (lost me on this part of the discussion).  A major hurdle to Doha agreements is the ongoing battle between US and EU agricultural subsidies.  The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (affectionately known as the ‘Hook and Bullet’ crowd) is getting more interested and involved in the 2007 Farm Bill.  They are reaching out to a number of groups they typically fight (i.e. Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Unlimited, etc.).  Some advocates suggest that we collapse the two programs together; while others push for farm program payments to be based on Ecosystem.  Fiscal Conservatives have fought subsidies for years but now are approaching the environmental service to join forces, since it is free market based (can’t kill the subsidies, might as well modify them).  The Agribusiness Accountability Initiative is being pushed by a large number of religious groups. 

Feasible Implementation and Landowner Objectives to the 3 E’s of Sustainability; Bay Area has led innovative efforts – we can use the precedent we have created to move the Farm Bill along.

Complex issue explained in a very intense, fast-paced presentation.  Great work!

pt

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