Celebrate the International Day of Farmers’ Struggle

Defend Food Sovereignty from Corporate Greed!

Monday April 18th 10:30 am
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)
20 South Wacker Drive

Afterwards, there will be a Solidarity Demonstration in
support of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) national
march for agrarian reform!

Monday April 18th 12:30 pm
Brazilian Consulate
401 North Michigan Avenue

Founded over a century ago, the CME has become the largest futures clearing house in the world, with trade activity worth a whopping $127 trillion last year. Each day the CME opens its doors to an elite group of corporate brokers who set the world market price for everything from cheese to pork bellies to fertilizer. Dairy farmers are particularly angry about their rural livelihoods being at the mercy of these faceless technocrats, and at a meeting in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, last November they issued a statement demanding sweeping changes.

For more information contact:

National Family Farm Coalition #202-543-5675
Illinois Stewardship Alliance #217-498-9707
Family Farm Defenders #608-260-0900
Friends of MST #847-332-2113

See below for more background info and action steps...

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CME – Corporate Auction Block for Global Free Trade

Ever wondered who really sets the “free market” price for your food? Why would people as far away as Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Germany, and New Zealand care so much about what a handful of futures traders are doing in the Midwest?

What is the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)?

This private not-for-profit corporation was founded in 1898, issued its own stock options in 2002, and is now the largest futures clearing house in the world. Each day an elite group gathers at the CME’s main office at 20 South Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago to swap futures in such products as cheese, butter, live cattle, pork bellies, timber, and fertilizer. Within seconds their trading activity is translated around the world, affecting the farmgate prices and grocery bills for billions of people. Beyond basic agricultural products, the CME directly influences the world economy in other major ways – such as by setting benchmark financial indicators through its trading of futures in Eurodollars, the S&P 500 Index, as well as the NASDAQ Index. In 2004 alone the CME handled a staggering 212 million contracts worth over $127 trillion.

CME – Insider Trading Cloaked in Secrecy?

Because the CME is a private company, it is not a subject to the same transparency and accountability rules governing other public agencies like the USDA. The CME is subject to nominal oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is fond of invoking the public trust doctrine in its statements, but its primary responsibility is to its corporate investors. In this respect, the undemocratic character of the CME fits well with that of other global free trade entities such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) – all of which are run by unelected officials allowed to regulate and police themselves.

According to the CME’s own mission statement, “Integrity and openness are critical. We expect the highest ethical standards from our employees and market participants. We rigorously regulate our markets.” Many of those who have been victimized by dubious trade activities conducted by the CME would beg to differ. For instance, the U.S. Dept. of Justice (DoJ), in conjunction with numerous State Attorney Generals, is now pursuing an investigation of the largest dairy cooperative in the U.S., Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), for alleged racketeering and manipulation of milk prices through insider trading on the CME. And this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

How Can We Bring Fair Trade to the Global Market?

Those concerned about fair trade and global justice are fed up with the type of illegal economic activity that occurs behind closed doors at places like the CME. Such insider trading only benefits wealthy elites, while stealing money from farmers, consumers, and others who can no longer afford to pay the bill for corporate “free market” malfeasance. Genuine democratic oversight and ethical house cleaning of the CME is long overdue.

*Contact the Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, to demand a CME investigation:
100 West Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601 tel. (312) 814-3000 fax. (312) 814-3374

*Contact the Commodity Futures Trading Commision Chair, Sharon Brown-Hruska
1155 21st St. NW, Washington, DC 20581 tel. (202)418-5000 fax. (202) 418-5521

*Contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to demand a CME investigation:
Specter (R-PA), Durbin (D-IL), Leahy (D-VT), Grassley (R-IA), Schumer (D-NY), Feingold (D-WI), Feinstein (D-CA), Kohl (D-WI) - Congressional Switchboard #202-224-3121