How Sexy Is The 2012 Farm Bill?
This week BlogHer is featuring my post My Opinion Monday: $8-A-Dozen Eggs? Not Today, Thanks on their Food Page. Woot!
For today I had been planning to write about the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill but I was somewhat saddened that it did not receive any discussion on the CtS FB Page nor on Twitter. This is an important issue that is going to be hitting the U.S. at a tumultuous political time. We need to start thinking about it and talking about it now.
It’s probably my fault that there wasn’t any discussion though. I don’t think I made it sound very sexy. But then, maybe it’s hard to make a farm bill sound sexy or even vaguely interesting. Really, who cares about a farm bill other than farmers, right?
Well, even the tiniest bit of digging will tell you that we should all care about it. Really care about it. Really really care about it. The Farm Bill is at the heart of almost every food issue in our nation. Check this out:
- The vast majority of the money in the 2008 Farm Bill (the current version of the bill) goes toward nutrition programs, with most heading to the food stamp program. It is thus essential to the well-being of so many people (and so so very many children) in our country, especially in today’s economic situation.
- The farm bill determines which farms are subsidized. The vast majority of the subsidy money goes to five crops: corn, wheat, rice, soybean and cotton. The bulk of these crops go into animal feed and into super-processed unhealthy foods. This certainly helps McDonalds but shouldn’t we be helping people grow and eat more fruits and veggies?
- Some of the most important land and wildlife conservation programs in this country (e.g., Conservation Reserve Program) are funded through the farm bill. We talk sustainability and so we need to continue to fund sustainability, and consider funding it even more.
- A ridiculously small amount of money goes to organic farming at the moment. If we want farmers to convert from chemical-intensive practices to organic growing practices, the 2012 Farm Bill is where it’s at.
So I urge you to find out a bit about the upcoming farm bill.
Watch this video of Ken Cook (where I got most of my info from, by the way):
And read Farm Bill 2012: Time For An Overhaul With Innovative Farming Systems by Joanna Zelman.
And consider contacting your senator or congressman NOW because they’re working on the farm bill as you read this. Do you feel that you need some inspiration first? Read this piece from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition about how the budget cuts required by the Super Committee might wind up reinforcing the agricultural status quo.
There are lobbyists having their say already but I’m afraid that the loudest voices will not be ours: They will not be voices supporting the poor, supporting fresh fruits and vegetables, supporting conservation and sustainable agriculture, or supporting small organic farms.
Read about it. Talk about it. The 2012 Farm Bill may not be sexy but it sure as heck is relevant.
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Check out the other My Opinion Monday posts here.
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I have to say that I’m glad too that you’re writing about the Farm Bill. I think it is really an important piece of legislation that impacts so many programs and parts of our society. Many people would find it great especially farmers. Thank you for the idea.
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It is an important piece of legislation, and important to all of us, not just farmers, since it impacts so many parts of the food industry, conservation and our nation’s nutrition. Thanks for the comment!
Hi there! Glad you’re writing about the Farm Bill. It truly is an important piece of legislation that impacts so many programs and parts of our society.
I’m a newbie to the Farm Bill. My husband was an agriculture lobbyist for several years, working on international trade, biotech, and voluntary sustainability regulations. Now, he’s a farmer – which makes me a farmwife. I never even knew about the Farm Bill until I met him and he had to work on it. Let’s just say, it – and the rest of the farming world – has been eye opening.
Just curious, as I’m a new reader and found you through BlogHer, what changes do you support?
First, thanks for visiting and for commenting. Second, I’m new to the farm bill (and to agricultural issues) as well. As to actual changes that I support, I’m not even near that arena of knowledge yet. What I am most concerned about at this point is the potential that the Super Committee and/or congress is going to slash the funding for the programs currently supported by the bill and that the result will be very little progress in the areas of organic farming and sustainability as well as less money for nutrition programs. If people aren’t talking about the bill and don’t seem that concerned about it, then the slash is more likely to happen, don’t you think? Our job right now is to let people know about it and show them how it affects them and their communities.
It’s frightening when you think of the regulations that are able to get passed just because we don’t know about them.
I know! This bill worries me because it’s going to be coming along when the country is already having trouble getting along AND when there’s an election going on. It’s either going to get very little news time or it will be yet another battle where both sides are left feeling unhappy. *sigh*