I suppose if I were in Congress, I’d hold my nose and vote for it, as most of the Kansas lawmakers (Hutchinson News) did. The quotes from some of the lawmakers in that Hutchinson News story, however, show how much hogwash is part of the bill. I’m a farmer’s granddaughter and very sympathetic with farmers, but don’t break my heart over cutting payments to those whose income exceeds $750,000, especially while commodity prices are at record highs.

Meanwhile, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (PDF) summarizes the good things in the bill, which President Bush says he’ll veto because it doesn’t cut direct payments enough, a stance that appears entirely out of character for the president and, therefore, makes me very suspicious.

For commentary by people better-informed than I, check out these:

• U.S. Food Policy’s Parke Wilde, who gives an overview of the final bill.
• Ethicurean Elanor Starmer, who favored passage and is highly suspicious of Bush.
• The Slow Cook Ed Bruske, who opposed passage.
• Gristmill’s Tom Philpott, who provided some good analysis augmented by useful comments.

At this stage, there isn’t much left for us as individuals to do about this Farm Bill, I guess, other than let our lawmakers know how we feel about a veto if that occurs. One thing we need to be sure of, though, is that we don’t wait around to gear up for the next Farm Bill in four years. We all need to make our voices and our dollars heard in our daily living, our political and charitable contributions and, yes, in our communications with lawmakers. They seem frequently to forget that they work for us, but that’s just because we let them. We have to stop letting them forget.

This horse is beaten, but is it dead? Remember the farm bill? Yea, that big ugly bit of legislation that touches our diets in very real but often hidden ways? Well, the House and Senate conference committee is trying to sort out the two chambers’ different versions, but don’t expect much reform. In case you aren’t weary from the effort, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has some info you can use, but it’s hard not to feel inadequate to the challenge. Others have been talking, but no one seems to be listening.

Agricultural wonders. I had to read it twice to believe that the National Farmers Union gave freshman U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, a Democrat, its highest honor at its recent annual meeting. FOF (friend of foodperson.com) Dan Nagengast, meanwhile, received the Meritorious Service to Agriculture for his work at the Kansas Rural Center and elsewhere to promote sustainable and alternative agricultural methods. I also notice that the High Plains Journal rushed the news to press.

Not for a cup of tea. Eileen Roddy reviews the Merc’s new eating area.

Smoke and computers. The annual grass-burning on Kansas prairie where many a cow grazes (and a few buffalo roam) goes 21st Century.

Psst…don’t tell anybody. The KC Star’s Paul Wenske weighs in on the secrecy involved in meat recalls. (Registration required.)

Whither cattlewomen? K-State hosts Cattlemen’s Day next week. Why not Cattle Ranchers Day? Oh, bother. Maybe that’s why they needed a woman, noted animal behavior expert Temple Grandin, to speak.

Tracking cattle. Well, actually, they’re talking about tracking meat based on its bovine DNA, which may be of greater interest when packers start officially putting cloned meat into the food stream. (Why do I think someone will oppose labels that read, “Not from cloned cattle”? Hmm.) And there, there in the last paragraph, you see that the U.S. base for IdentiGEN, the company doing it, is right here in Lawrence, Kansas.

Being Present in KC. OK, I’m slow to find this site, and if you’ve missed it, too, you can check out Present Magazine, a webzine with lots of food content.

Rural Kansans losing link? It’s hard to believe that residents in Liberal, within whiffing distance on a bad day of major feedlots, would have some idea where their food comes from, but maybe not. And if they don’t, what about residents of, say, Denver?

Farm Bill again, and still. They’re finally getting around to resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill. Our state’s pawn of Big Ag, Sen. Pat Roberts, is on the conference committee. For updates, you can try the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition‘s page. It’s exhausting trying to keep up, and I think the people with lots of money involved count on it.

Jobs to the slaughter. Poultry and meat processing giant Tyson is eliminating more than 1,500 jobs in Emporia.

Local food sources. Collaborator Neil Salkind and I offer up links to local foods at the Kansas City Star (registration required) or at the Online Epicure Yahoo group page.

Sustaining events. The Lawrence Sustainability Network does a remarkably good job keeping up with environmental and sustainable food events. You can sign up to get the announcements in your e-mail, which are more current than the ones online. That being the case, I offer you this item from the Feb. 6 bulletin: The LSN Gardeners’ Gathering will be at 10 a.m. Sunday, February 10, 2008. Contact info@lawrencesustainability.net for directions. The agenda: seed varieties that grow well around here, planning spring gardens and a seed exchange of non-hybrid (heirloom) vegetables.

Hunters hunt, hungry eat. A Kansas group donates deer that is processed, packaged and given to low-income families. Win, win, win.

Casbah open for business. After many months of anticipation, the Casbah Market is open. Can’t find a news item, and I’ll write something more about it later, but thought I’d mention it here for those who’ve been wondering.

Farm Bill—again. Or may I should say Farm Bill—still. The monster bill is going to conference committee, and the Sustainable Agriculture Commission is cranking up its action alerts. Take a look at them, or sign up for weekly updates in your inbox.

Pats on food purveyors’ backs. Musician and blogger John Statz finds a thing or two to say about food in Lawrence and Hays.

I’d called the senator’s office a month ago or so, and his aide told me Brownback supported caps. I was skeptical then, so I say thank you now, Senator, for following through. For those who don’t know, Brownback is a conservative Republican senator from Kansas, which produces a lot of commodities, particularly wheat, and uses a lot of commodity corn to fatten cattle.

His colleague Sen. Pat Roberts, however, stood firm in favor of the big money, big ag firms, who are the ones that benefit from our out-of-kilter system. Between Roberts’ determined resistance to reform and his ongoing role as apologist for Bush’s secret wiretapping, I think I’d vote for almost anybody before I’ll vote for him when he runs again next year.

If you want to know more about the Farm Bill’s status and the Democrats failures at reform, Ethicurean.com has a nice roundup of commentary and information about it. You’ll be paying for it with your health and your tax bills.

Interesting item #1: The Star, here in the heart of the farm belt, finally put a farm bill story on page 1. Maybe there’s been another one, but I missed it.

Interesting item #2: According to the article, none other than the American Medical Association wants government food programs to promote fruits and vegetable, a statement I assume is based on the AMA’s actions last summer.

Another doctor’s group is downright down on the current farm policy. Quoting from the article:

“The real scandal in Washington is the farm bill,” said Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “Senators take millions from corporations that produce bacon, burgers and other fatty foods. Then Congress buys up these unhealthy products and dumps them on our school lunch program. Companies get rich, and kids get fat.”

Naturally, our fine Sen. Pat Roberts objects as does a major feedlot owner who doesn’t get subsidies (never mind the heavily subsidized cost of the feed he gives poor grain-fed cattle). And the story ultimately makes the issue out to be one of fruit and vegetable growers simply wanting their share from the federal trough.

It’s frustrating that this issue is only now getting this kind of coverage around here and frustrating that the story wasn’t better edited (high fat corn syrup??). Still, it’s a reminder that the stew is still getting cooked. So, once again, if you favor a healthier food policy, let your senators know now.

If you want to know more, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has a Farm Bill update (which probably has more info that you want). Contact your senator now. Tell him or her you want healthy food!

The Farm Bill, like lots of political balls, provokes my political bipolar tendencies as I swing back and forth from idealism to cynicism.

On the one hand, I understand and support the idea that this country needs an overarching agriculture policy and that developing one isn’t easy.

But my hackles and cynicism grow like weeds when confronted with the fact that the Farm Bill is so blasted big and ugly that only devoted ag policy geeks know what’s really in it. How very convenient for special interest groups that can fatten favored politicians’ campaign funds and keep well-fed lobbyists on the job to defend those interests.

It’s almost impossible to get information from someone who doesn’t have a stake in the outcome. Of course, I suppose that’s partly because we all have a stake. Still, most of us are at a loss because we have no idea where our individual interests fit, so we do nothing.

Where it stands

If I understand the situation correctly—and I can’t claim with any certainty that I do —we’re getting near the end of the current Farm Bill saga. (Another gripe and benefit to the special interests—the process drags out so long that it’s very hard for normal people to keep paying attention.)

So far, it appears to be business as usual, with the lion’s share of funding going to food programs (school lunches, food stamps and so on) with the next big pot of money going to commodity programs, that is, the subsidies that go to growers of corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and other commodities.

Everything else, including conservation, rural development and research, adds up to less than the price of the subsidies. Still (and here my inner idealist rises again), there’s hope that some conservation and healthy-food aspects might make it into the bill.

On desk

The next step comes when the Senate Agriculture Committee takes action, currently scheduled the week of Oct. 22. The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has an action alert (it’s a Microsoft Word document) that gives helpful information for people like me who get flummoxed on how to talk about the Farm Bill with our lawmakers (or, rather, their staff).

I guess I’ll be giving Sen. Pat Roberts’ office a call again. Wish I could say I thought they cared. They never even ask my name.

Resources

If you want to know more, here are some resources. Penn State University has a PowerPoint presentation whose first few slides nicely summarize the facts of what’s in the Farm Bill (link goes straight to the PP document) although the dollar figures are from the 2002 Farm Bill.

If you’re interested in various perspectives, here are a few:

–U.S. Department of Agriculture

–House Agriculture Committee

–Senate Ag Committee chair Tom Harkin

–Farm and Food Policy Project, a coalition of sustainable farming and environmental organizations, which also has links to get involved

–Farm Policy Facts, a website sponsored by a group of commodity grower associations, including cotton, corn, sugar, milk and wheat producers

–Oxfam American, an antipoverty organization

The discouraging part of the report, though, is the recommendations. They rely almost exclusively on government actions to promote healthy eating and exercise and to discourage unhealthy eating and inactivity. Clearly, obesity is a public health horror story, but, equally clearly, neither policymakers nor lawmakers show any interest in undertaking the kinds of programs the Trust suggests.

Why? I don’t think it’s being cynical to say that far too many of the lobbyists and political contributors benefit from the status quo. The current farm bill debate is Exhibit A, with its agriculture-related portions stuck in the mode of subsidizing a few commodities that allow for cheap highly processed foods rather than more healthful, less-processed or unprocessed foods. And let’s face it, companies are making lots of money selling diets, diet aids, and, especially, drugs to combat such obesity-related illnesses as heart disease and diabetes.

Eventually, I think, the pols will get on board, but I don’t expect that to happen until more Americans start voting the old-fashioned way: with their wallets. What can you do? Buy from the produce aisles at the grocery store, look for pastured beef, pork and chicken and leave the Lunchables and frozen dinners to rot in the refrigerator cases. And remember, convenience foods don’t save time.