I am energized about the Farm Bill - I just returned from a forum at The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism where Michael Pollan, a Professor of Journalism and author of "The Ominvore's Dilemma", brought together a diverse panel of interested participants.
From the Director of Sin Fronteras (cheap food means even cheaper labor and associated problems), to the Director of Nutrition at Berkeley Unified Schools (cheap food means fat kids), the panel discussed the impact of the Farm Bill on our national health, both human and environmental health.
If you eat in the US, you should care about the Farm Bill. Its subsidies have impacted what we eat since the '30s. Why is corn in everything we eat (soda, bread, cereal, sausages, the list is endless)? Because the Farm Bill provides massive subsidies to farmers to grow corn (as well as soy, pork, beef and milk - the Top Five) regardless of whether or not we need all of this corn in our food supply. Oversupply led to low cost. Corn syrup, one of the thousands of corn by-products and cheaper than cane sugar, thus finds its way into thousands of processed foods.
The Farm Bill requires public schools to meet nutrition guidelines based on these commoditized foods - not a vegetable in sight! We are facing an epidemic of obesity: 1 in 3 children are now obese or overweight in the United States. Ask why! Could the Farm Bill and the over-production of commodity crops partly responsible?
The Environmental Working Group documents where the Farm Bill subsidies end up. No surprise, the subsidies go to the states that produce the most corn, soy, pork and cattle. California, which grows most of the domestically produced vegetables in the US, received very little of the Farm Bill subsidies.
And there are few incentives for farmers to protect their land for long-term use.
Read more here:
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdafarmbill?navtype=SU&navid=FARM_BILL_FORUMS
http://www.farmworkers.org/contents.html
http://www.ewg.org/
http://www.lunchlessons.org/
http://www.michaelpollan.com/http://www.watershedmedia.org/foodfight_overview.html
Lecture on March 22, 2007Labels: farm bill, organic