The Farm Bill - Why it matters to YOU and your family

[Mind_your_head]

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WHY DOES THE FARM BILL MATTER?

If you pay taxes, care about the nutritional values of school lunches, worry about the plight of biodiversity or the loss of farmland and open space, you have a personal stake in the tens of billions of dollars annually committed to agriculture and food policies. If you're concerned about escalating federal budget deficits, the fate of family farmers, a food system dominated by corporations and commodities, conditions of immigrant farm workers, the state of the country's woodlands, or the marginalization of locally raised organic food and grass-fed meat and dairy products, you should pay attention to the Farm Bill.

There are dozens more reasons why the Farm Bill is critical to our land, our bodies, and our children's future. Some include:

• The twilight of the cheap oil age and onset of unpredictable climatic conditions;
• Looming water shortages and falling fish populations;
• Broken rural economies;
• Euphoria over corn and soybean expansion for biofuels;
• Escalating medical and economic costs of child and adult obesity;
• Record payouts to corporate farms that aren't even losing money without subsidies;
• More than 35 million Americans, half of them children, who don't get enough to eat.

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WHAT ABOUT THE FOOD PYRAMID?

Very little of all the agriculture we subsidize is directly edible, at least by humans. Out of the hundreds and even thousands of plant and animal species that have been cultivated for human use, the Farm Bill favors just four primary groups: food grains, feed grains, oilseeds, and upland cotton. Most are either fed to cattle in confinement or processed into oils, flours, starches, sugars, or other industrial food additives.

It only takes a stroll down the supermarket aisles to understand how Farm Bill dollars impact the country's food chain. A dollar buys hundreds more calories in the snack food, cereal, and soda aisles than it does in the produce section. Why? Because the Farm Bill favors the megaproduction of corn and soybeans rather than regional supplies of fresh vegetables, healthy fruits, and nuts.
While the USDA's Food Pyramid emphasizes the nutritional advantages of eating five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, Farm Bill funding for diversified row crop and orchard farming remains relatively disconnected from the balanced, healthy diet that nutritionists endorse. Meanwhile, most consumer food dollars spent in farm country end up leaving the region because our agricultural areas have effectively become "food deserts."
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Much, much more....
http://www.edibleportland.com/2007/05/the_farm_bill_s.html

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The article cited above was written by the author of this book:


I didn't realize how important this bill is to us as citizens and consumers until stumbling across this article. Congress revisits and passes the multi-billion-dollar, little-understood piece of legislation known as the Farm Bill every five years. 2007 is one of those years - they will vote in September I believe.

I'm going to order this book in order to understand this better, as I didn't realize how important this legislation is to the things that I care about. I am posting this to help others DU'ers become aware of it's importance, as I am becoming more aware, and trust that there are many DU'ers who are already knowledgable about this bill who can discuss it and help enlighten us all further.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[lynnertic]

1. Great post, thanks.

[underpants]

2. This bill is HUGE

Thanks for the link. I need to get B&N to order that book for me.

[Mind_your_head]

3. Here's a link to the book on Amazon.com

Even the description and customer reviews are interesting/enlightening. I can't wait until my copy arrives!

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Fight-Citizens-Guide-Farm/dp/0970950020/ref=sr_1_1/104-7772652-2455951?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184858555&sr=1-1

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Book Description
The Farm Bill is perhaps the single most significant land use legislation enacted in the United States, yet many citizens remain unaware of its power and scope. With subsidies ballooning toward $25 billion dollars per year, the Farm Bill largely dictates who grows what crops, on what acreage, and under what conditions--all with major impacts on the country's rural economies, health and nutrition, national security, and biodiversity. As debate and wrangling over the 2007 Farm Bill intensifies, Food Fight offers a highly informative and visually engaging overview of legislation that literally shapes our food system, our bodies, and our future.
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[underpants]

8. Just ordered it at B&N

thanks for the reminder

[havocmom]

4. There are lots of $$ interests playing to make independent farmers a thing of the past

Between giant, multi-national (read: no allegiance to anything but every penny of profit they can squeeze out of a vegetable) farming corporations and land developers looking to build more playgrounds for the rich & infamous, the outlook is bleak for families trying to stay on the land and raise food.

If you grumble about the effect of having multi-national BIG OIL being in charge of your gas tank, how are you gonna feel when BIG FARM has control over your belly?

The recent problems with food contamination are just the beginning. Look for more poisoning and MUCH higher prices as time goes by and independent farmers become relics in history books.

The family farm is much more likely to be a better steward of the lands/wildlife than mega-farming-corporations too. The family farmer/rancher (and, yes, most are incorporated, but hardly huge corporations like Archer Daniels Midland) generally has to show good stewardship for many of the programs which help them.

In our little corner of the nation, where deer and antelope are much more numerous than people and cars, there is a looming land development project for homes for the rich, next to federal lands and excellent game habitat. Thinkin' Friends of Dead Eye Dick have plans to make this area into a 'wild-life game hunting' playground. There are groups wanting to bring African game animals here, along with those who want to turn the buffalo loose. This is Montana. Seems likely a lot of African game won't thrive here and while buffalo are natural inhabitants, they did NOT just hang around here. Unless the entire western US wants to have them tromping through their backyards too, the idea of returning the American bison to its native range is a myth.

The rich and infamous want the barely independent off lands they want for their Wild Life Disneylands. They don't give a shit that the American worker will not be able to afford food. If working class wants to eat, they can always join the military and hope KBR buys some food for troops with all the tax dollars they are getting.

edited for typo

[dkofos]

5. The Farm Bill has turned into a giveaway to the big AG corporations.

I won't be holding my breath waiting for this to be remedied!!

[msongs]

6. human beings do NOT need to eat animal products. the solution is obvious

quit eating dead animals and the farm problems reduce substantially. fewer robo-cows means less stress on corn and other robo-feeds which means lower demand for them which means lower prices for those crops. it means less water waste, less toxic waste across the board.

quit giving welfare to corporations, end price supports for destructive non-necessary foods such as sugar, and problems reduce substantially.

soda is NOT a food group and neither are cheetos.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Mind_your_head]

7. Well, yes, exactly! That's why finding out what's going into this years Farm Bill is important

From the article:

84 percent of commodity support spending goes to the production of just five crops: corn, cotton, wheat, rice, and soybeans.

Half of that money currently goes to just seven states that produce most of those commodities. The richest ten percent of farm-subsidy recipients (many of which are corporations and absentee landowners and can hardly be classified as "actively engaged" in growing crops) take in more than two-thirds of those payments.

There is at least one simple solution to this. Farm and food subsidy programs could be realigned to support the federal dietary guidelines and reoriented toward food chains that produce and distribute locally grown, healthy foods.

[Mind_your_head]

9. Shameless self-kick

Please read the article and understand the importance......and hopefully one of the 'cool kids' will repost it some day.

:kick: