On October 18th 2011, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) agreed in a 3-2 vote to approve limits on the size of positions in futures and swaps markets. This action will place restraints on financial institutions, but to what extent must still be examined.

TriCRI has been advocating diligently on this issue, as the rising cost of food affects the poor worldwide and is affected by many speculative dollars entering the agricultural commodities futures market. If passed, strict positions limits provide regulatory certainty and encourage stable derivatives markets for the benefit of farmers and consumers, versus those looking to make a quick profit.

Along with ICCR, we called on the Commissioners of the CFTC to disallow the practice of gambling on hunger. More than 400 people joined us to raise our voices in solidarity.

Read ICCR's Press Release and the letter writing campaign update.

This has been a watershed year, as most of our work will not be seen in the proxy. Instead, critical work is being done with corporate management through the dialogue process.

As the 2010 proxy season culminates, TRI-State CRI members report voting results for their shareholder resolutions at various annual meetings around the country:

• Bank of America (Collateral in Derivatives Trading)
• Caterpillar (Amend Human Rights Policy)
• Citigroup (Restoring Confidence in the Financial System)
• DuPont (Amend Human Rights Policy to include seed sharing rights of traditional farming communities)
• ExxonMobil (Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions)
• Philip Morris International (Food Insecurity and Tobacco Use)

In addition, Tri-State CRI members are involved in ongoing dialogues with many companies:

• Abbott (Right to Access Medicine/Pharmaceutical Price Restraint)
• Alcoa Inc. (Global Standards)
• Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Global Food Supply Chain/Sustainability)
• Apache (Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions)
• Best Buy Co., Inc.  (Violent Video Games Standards)
• Bristol Myers Squibb (Pharmaceutical Price Restraint)
• Campbell Soup Co. (Reduce Water Use)
• Chevron (GHG Emissions and Human Rights)
• Correction Corporation of America (Human Rights Policy)
• Coca Cola Company (Water Use)
• Electronic Arts (Violent Video Games Standards)
• Ford Motor Company (Emissions Reductions)
• Freeport McMoRan (Human Right Policy)
• Gamestop (Violent Video Games Standards)
• General Electric (PCBs & the Hudson)
• General Mills (GMO Food Report)
• Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Global Health/Access to Medicines)
• Goldman Sachs (Restoring Confidence in the Financial System)
• Hershey's (Child and Forced Labor)
• Hilton (Code Protecting Children)
• Hormel (Water Pollution Impacts of CAFOs)
• Johnson & Johnson (Pharmaceutical Price Restraint)
• JP Morgan Chase (Restoring Confidence in the Financial System)
• Macy’s (Health Care Reform Principles)
• McGraw Hill (Credit Crisis Accountability)
• Merck (Right to Access Medicines)
• Newmont Mining (Human Rights)
• Pepsico (Water use and Genetically Modified Organisms)
• Pfizer (Pharmaceutical Price Restraint)
• Proctor & Gamble (Sustainability Reporting)
• Starwood (Code Protecting Children)
• Southern Company (Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions)
• Target (Health Care Reform Principles and Violent Video Games Standards)
• Toyota Motor Corp. (Global Standards)
• Tyson Foods, Inc (Reduce Water Pollution Impacts CAFOS)
• Walmart (Violent Video Games Standards, Child Labor, Health Care Reform Principles)
• Wyndham (Code Protecting Children)

To view the resolutions in their entirety, log onto the ICCR website, and click on shareholder resolutions.

Standing at the corner of the Irish Hunger Memorial park and New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), TriCRI, Maryknoll, and other faith and anti-hunger based organizations drew connections between excessive speculation in agricultural commodities and price volatility.

TriCRI and Maryknoll Members during a prayer service

Increased speculation has devastating affects across the globe, as it destabilizes prices for commodities, especially food.  In 2008, this speculation contributed to the food and energy bubbles that caused food riots in dozens of countries in the global south. The United Nations estimated an additional 130 million people were driven to hunger because of the high prices.

See the National Catholic Reporter, Sojourners, Catholic News Service, and  Stop Gambling on Hunger for more coverage.

Sr. Barbara Aires, Fr. Seamus Finn, ICCR members, walk into a crowd of journalists with Cathy Rowan, CRI member, Kate Walsh, CRI Associate Director, Fr. Joe La Mar, CRI member, and  ICCR Staff Susana McDermott upon arriving at the Goldman Sach's Annual Meeting to discuss disclosure of derivatives trading and it's role in the financial crisis.

Over 50 news outlets covered this event, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the National Catholic Reporter.

First withdrawal on the Emissions Reduction Resolution occurs at Chevron, as the company agrees to track and report on the carbon content of it's products.

• Widthdraw Letter
• Press Release