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National Farmers Union (officially Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America) is a national federation of state Farmers Union organizations in the United States. It is the second largest general farm organization in the country, after Farm Bureau. The organization was founded in Point, Texas, in 1902 and is now headquartered in Washington, D.C. Today, the organization continues its original mission: to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers and ranchers and their rural communities. It does this by promoting legislation and education beneficial to farmers, and by developing cooperative buying and selling methods and businesses. The current president is Roger Johnson, and the vice president is Donn Teske. Former NFU Presidents have included Tom Buis and David Frederickson〔(Leadership and Board of Directors-Growth Energy )〕〔(Dave Frederickson, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Agriculture )〕 Today, National Farmers Union represents more than 200,000 family farms and ranches across the United States. There are organized chapters in 33 different states, and proposals are often started at the local level before moving up to the state and national levels. Once in the spring and once in the fall, leaders of NFU convene in Washington, D.C., to talk with legislators about solutions to problems they are facing. NFU Mission: To advocate for the economic and social well-being, and quality of life of family farmers, ranchers, fishermen and consumers and their communities through education, cooperation and legislation. NFU advocates sustainable production of food, fiber, feed and fuel. NFU Vision: NFU will continue to be the respected, influential and independent national voice and coalition leader that bridges family producers and consumers on behalf of a vibrant and growing grassroots membership. ==History 〔http://nfu.org/about/history〕== National Farmers Union was founded in 1902, and since then has been politically involved in many issues. It was only a year later that they formed their first marketing cooperative. In the early 1900s they campaigned for both a parcel post system, direct election of senators, and voting rights for women. Their efforts also led to the enactment of the Federal Farm Loan Act. This act established twelve Federal Land Banks. In 1930 the organization established a and in 1936 it promoted the Commodity Exchange Act. In 1934, it absorbed the once-powerful American Society of Equity.〔Bahmer, Robert H. "The American Society of Equity." ''Agricultural History'', Vol. 14, No. 1; pp. 33-63〕 In 1943, NFU campaigned to make school lunches permanent, and two years later was a founding member of Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE). NFU once again made their mark on school lunches when they helped pass school milk legislation through Congress. 1954 also saw the organization fight for a refund of the federal gas tax for gasoline used for agricultural purposes. In 1949 the NFU fought hard for the Brannan Plan which would provide generous subsidies to farmers, especially to those with smaller than average operations. All the other major farm groups opposed the Brannan Plan, and it never passed Congress.〔Charles M. Hardin, "The Politics of Agriculture in the United States." ''Journal of Farm Economics'' 32#4 Part 1 (1950): 571-583.〕〔Virgil W. Dean, ''An Opportunity Lost: The Truman Administration and the Farm Policy Debate'' (University of Missouri Press. 2006)〕〔Allen J. Matusow, ''Farm Policies and Politics in the Truman Years'' (1967).〕 In 1966, NFU worked to fight poverty by founding Green Thumb (now known as Experience Works), which secures employment for low-income and older workers. When efforts were made to eliminate the United States Department of Agriculture as a cabinet-level agency, NFU was successful in blocking these efforts. During the 1970s, NFU was influential in the development of rural health systems, and was also included as part of the World Hunger Action Council. In 1980, the organization was influential in passing a capital gains tax on foreigners who held US farmland. In 1982, NFU was influential in getting a portion of the military budget shifted to humanitarian food aid using commodity surpluses from the US. In 1990, the organization pushed for increased regulation of and a national standard for organically-produced food. In 2002, NFU was one of the leaders of a coalition of 165 farm and consumer groups that helped establish mandatory country-of-origin labeling. It took even more additional effort in order for the country-of-origin labeling to be officially implemented, and NFU led the charge. The labeling finally went into effect September 30, 2008, but is still being fought by multinational meat companies. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「National Farmers Union (United States)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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