foodperson.com

The farm bill is on my mind this Independence Day, which isn’t as odd as it may sound. The holiday makes me think of visits to Washington, D.C., where monuments underscore the stirring ideals set forth by this country’s founders.

In honor of the Independence Day, here’s a look at some of principles enunciated by Thomas Jefferson, that famed gardener and Declaration of Independence writer. Among his words:

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

Isn’t that what happens with the farm bill, when a few farm owners reap government largesse while others, working as hard or harder, can barely survive? Still, I’m modestly hopeful of the bill’s future. Jefferson also said:

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

I’m not sure about bureaucracy, but politicians do fear the people, at least when the people are paying attention. That’s why I’m so happy to see, especially for the holiday, Marian Burros’ story in today’s New York Times, “The Debate Over Subsidizing Snacks.” Among other things, the article says, “For the first time, lobbyists for farm subsidies are facing off in the halls of Congress against hundreds of activists.”

The activists are there because people are paying attention. They are there because publications like the Times are running stories like this one and magazine pieces like Michael Pollan’s earlier piece, “You Are What You Grow.”

Information is the currency of democracy.

Thomas Jefferson said that, too, and I believe he’s right. It’s my hope that more and more people will pay attention—and make their elected officials nervous. It’s my hope that more information will come out—and keep our government one where the people still have power.

A post script thank-you to the NYT for making permalinks available now on its pages. Maybe it has for a while, but I only noticed the permalink option today. That option means that the links I posted here will still lead to the articles mentioned, even when they’ve been transferred to the Times’ archive. Thanks, NYT, for that currency.