HOLLER AT 'EM DOWN THESE HALLOWED HALLS

I think I have some mental block that makes it difficult for me to fully conceptualize certain things unless I can experience them directly. If it’s abstract, I have no way in. For my entire life I’ve been hearing phrases like ‘appropriations committee,’ ‘discretionary spending,’ ‘marker bill’ and ‘lobbying,’ without really taking the time to think about how it all works in reality and on the ground. I know it affects me, but I guess I’ve mostly felt like it’s a huge machine that grinds along in it’s predetermined partisan way and that voting is really the only thing that makes a difference, and even then I’m just one voice and if my district is full of people who disagree with me about fundamental things, then too bad. I may be unusual in this ignorance and disengagement of the political process, but I suspect not. And it’s too bad, because direct involvement is easy, and it’s the biggest thing we can do to exercise our rights and have some say in what happens in our country. I recently went to Washington DC and exercised my right to have my say, and now I have a much clearer picture of how it all works (or at least parts of it). Not even because I saw it first hand, but because if I was going to go there, I needed to learn the process and for the first time I had a framework for the information, so it stuck.

I’ve been considering policy advocacy, or lobbying, as a possible career path, so I’ve been thinking about what it means, how it’s done and where it fits into the scheme of saving the world. And I’m determining that it’s a seriously important piece of the pie and that most do-gooder organizations and individuals don’t spend enough (or any) time and energy on it. I did some lobbying last week, as part of a small team (3 or 4 people, depending on the meeting). We were asking for some specific items to be included or changed in the 2007 Farm Bill—things that will support small to medium-sized farms and food producers, provide better access to and education about healthy, fresh food, and support more local food economies. I had spent the couple of days before (and the last couple of years, I guess) learning about the issues and the systems involved, and the Community Food Security Coalition had prepared the information on what asks would be productive and sufficient to make a meaningful change. So I went in knowing what I wanted my Senators and representative to do, and why. We waltzed right into the halls of power (there was a metal detector, but no ID check or sign in or anything) and to the offices of our members of Congress (one of us had called ahead to get appointments with each office) and had discussions with staffers with our requests and the evidence backing them up. Anyone can do this. And it’s incredibly empowering. The buildings really are grand, and being in the spaces where the policy work of the entire country is decided was inspiring.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know there’s tons of pork (in the form of peanuts, tropical fish and dairy subsidies in the war funding bill, for instance). I know favors are done and money is earmarked and the big businesses will always have more money and more people in there working to influence policy. But I also know that if you have your ducks in a row, your facts researched and clearly articulated, and some well-written arguments to leave behind for your representatives to learn from, your voice can be heard. In the case of one Washington representative (from a rural area, not mine), his legislative director even treated us as partners of a sort, asking us to provide him with evidence to back up some things he (and we) supports, and to keep him updated on developments on the ground. The Farm Bill is hugely contested, it includes most of the food and farm policy in the US, and the money has to be divided among long-standing bad ideas like excessive subsidies for commodity crops grown by big agri-business, necessary safety net entitlement programs like Food Stamps (no longer stamps, and no longer called that), and support for innovation and improvement of our food system and access to it for those often excluded. The fight is a year-long struggle, with small-scale marker bills (preliminary bills with fewer issues to attempt to get support for an issue that will then be put into the larger bill) and coalition-building, ending in an authorization that may only be partially funded. But if without advocacy by and for those outside the big business lobby groups, there’s no chance for improvement. You better believe that industry is making sure its voice is heard. I’m now a true believer in making sure mine is too.