322782 Sat Sep 02 14:31:40 -0700 2006 2 29 Not About Food 0 1850377 Here's a link to a good editorial from Michael Pollan in The Nation in which he argues that we in the U.S. should call the farm bill the food bill and not leave negotiations up to the big ag states because food and how it is grown concerns us all. http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=82 Sat Sep 02 14:31:40 -0700 2006 12341 vanillagrrl 1 1850397 Becareful what you wish for re the farm/food bill. Government can't do something for somebody without doing something to somebody else. Small family farms are easily hurt when people go after "big" farms. It gets harder every year to follow the government regulations. It has become a big ugly game farmers must play to survive. Sat Sep 02 14:45:01 -0700 2006 1850377 33952 flutter1 2 1850558 That is the myth that bigag wants you to believe. There may be a small number of family farms who are still receiving federal subsidy, but they are in the minority. Most ag subsidy directly hurts family farms because it benefits the giants who are squeezing family farms out of business. The bigag model does not support family farms; one 10,000 acre farm is far more profitable than 100 100 acre farms. Those family farmers who are still attempting to work within the industrial framework areincreasingly indebted to farm equipment, fertilizer and pesticide companies. In another 10 or 20 years they will all be gone. Forward thinking family farms are moving in the direction of organic farming because it is the only thing that can keep them profitable because they are competing in a different market than bigag. Those who continue to attempt conventional agriculture cannot compete with the bigag giants. The vast majority of federal subsidy is going directly to agribusiness. This includes direct payments, crop price guarantees, water subsidies, oil subsidies, land subsidies, tax breaks, and breaks on pollution and environmental policy. A restructured farm bill designed to directly benefit small farms, with specific benefits given to small, organic, family farms, and exclusions for agribusiness would be a huge improvement on the current model. Support family farms! Deman farm bill reform! Sat Sep 02 16:42:01 -0700 2006 1850397 10793 Morton the Mousse