The Slow Food USA Blog

Food Policy Here at Home

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by Slow Food USA staffer Jerusha Klemperer

Again and again at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development sessions on Agriculture, representatives from other countries reported that U.S. agriculture policies, such as subsidies, are negatively impacting poor farmers around the world.

And so–where stands this U.S. (Food and) Farm Bill of ours?

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that "the President has been to the left of the Speaker [Pelosi]." This surprising reality is well explained in this overview, which also points out that "as the commodities boom accelerated over the winter, boosting farm income to new records, the disconnect between the farm bill and economic reality grew more bizarre."

An opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution calls the state of affairs "topsy-turvy," offering that "Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, which opposes large-scale corporate farming, estimates that a married farm couple could earn $2.9 million before getting kicked off the federal dole," calling on GW to veto the whole darn "massive, bloated [GW's words]" thing.

But that would mean starting from scratch with a brand new President, of course.