Sponsored by the Office of Biotechnology, Bioethics Program, and Institute of Science and Society at Iowa State University

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The 2004 Bioethics Retreat was held on January 9, 2004, at Iowa State University. The seminar focused on the following questions:

• How should global justice be understood?
• What, if anything, does global justice require from developed nations like the United States?
• Do subsidies to Iowa and other U.S. farmers export poverty to farmers in developing nations?
• What are the local impacts of current agricultural policies?
• What reforms, if any, are necessary to better pursue global and local justice?

The aim of the retreat was to examine the concept of global justice and to explore the local and global impacts of U.S. agricultural subsidies.

Speakers included: Allen Buchanan, from the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy and Department of Philosophy at Duke University; Clark Wolf, director of the Bioethics Program at ISU; Bruce Babcock and John Beghin, economists from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development; Craig Gundersen, from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at ISU; Charlie Brummer, Department of Agronomy at ISU; George Naylor, President of the National Family Farm Coalition; and Joel Severinghaus, Director of International Activities at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.

A schedule is available online.

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Recommended Readings:

Buttel, F. H. Internalizing the Societal Costs of Agricultural Production.  Plant Physiology Online.  December 2003.

Gundersen, C., M. Morehart, L. Whitener, L. Ghelfi, J. Johnson, K. Kassel, B. Kuhn, A. Mishra, S. Offutt and L. Tiehen.  A Safety Net for Farm Households. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Economic Report 877.  2000.

Gundersen, C. and S. Offutt.  Farm Poverty and Safety Nets.  2003.

Naylor, G & Hauter, W. "Naylor and Hauter: Washington no friend of farmers." The Topeka Capital-Journal. December 2003.

Ray, D.,  D. de la Torre Ugarte, and Kelly J. Tiller. "Rethinking US Agricultural Policy:  Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide." The Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, The University of Tennessee.  September 2003.

Weisbrot, M. and D. Baker.  The Relative Impact of Trade Liberalization on Developing Countries.  Center for Economic and Policy Research.  2002.