I must admit, I’m hardly the expert agriculturist, but I do know that the farm bill currently pending in the United States House could go a long way towards determining what our farms and food supply looks like for the next ten years. The Bill emerged from the Agriculture Committee as some sort of Frankenstein-type thing with grafts of “reform” stuck to it. You know, like a nose of “income limits” and a kneecap of “loophole closures” except the underlying fact remains that this bill must undergo a lot more work before we can truly declare, “It’s Alive”

In a press release entitled, “Pelosi: Farm Bill is Critical First Step for Reform” the Speaker attempts to put a fig leaf over Frank’s gruesome parts:

“The Farm Bill represents a critical first step toward reform by eliminating payments to millionaires, closing loopholes that permit evasion of payment limits, and promoting our nation’s family farmers. 

“This bipartisan bill provides a safety net for America’s farmers, promotes homegrown energy and conservation initiatives that will help us achieve energy independence, and invests in nutrition and healthy eating.  I look forward to supporting farm country by passing the Farm Bill on a bipartisan basis.”

See, while there are reforms in this bill, it still leaves much to be desired, more over the flip.

With any farm bill, we need to pursue a number of goals. OF course, the entrenched ag interests would like to see status quo, but that could be said of most issues. Here, there are a number of big players. One is the corporate farm, which pull massive subsidies. It’s not enough for ADM to pull billions of subsidies for ethanol, they want more. The Ag Committee added gross income thresholds, but apparently the loopholes are wide enough to drive a tractor through.

Furthermore, we need to stop subsidizing foods which are bad for you to the detriment of foods which are, um, good for you. Namely, the farm bill heavily subsidizes corn. So, other fruits and vegetables are high in comparison. Have you ever noticed how cheap corn is when it’s in season? Like 8 ears for a dollar or somesuch? Doesn’t that strike you as a bit too cheap? Why is it so cheap? Well, that’s your government dollar choosing corn over, say, asparagus or tomatoes or yada, yada. The favoritism of corn is part legacy of older bills, and partly because manufacturers have gotten so used to cheap corn. They’ve learned to make corn into other products. SO they use corn syrup instead of sugar, etc.

If we are going to choose winners in what’s being grown, shouldn’t we at least choose a balanced diet? It’s not like our nation’s populace is getting any skinnier.  That’s where Speaker Pelosi comes in. She needs to fight for amendments which tighten up the loopholes and work to get more fresh fruits and vegetables to American dinner tables.