Food Politics

An analysis by the Congressional Research Service says not much, relatively.  Although $27 billion to USDA sounds like a big chunk of change, $21 billion of that goes to food assistance (good) but only $6 billion to any kind of farm program (not so good).  Missing in action are the things many of us care deeply about: support for small farmers, organic production methods, fruits & vegetables (“specialty crops”), or any of the other things mentioned by Sam Hurst in his discussion of the report at Gourmet’s online site.

• Want a better USDA? Sign here!
• Some good news at last: small farms!
• USDA says: Eat Local! HHS says: Prevent!
• USDA seeks method to compensate farmers for GM contamination
• World food crisis: implications for U.S. agriculture