Love Vermont cheddar, San Fran sourdough, Minnesota ice wine, or Iowa blue cheese? USA Food Bill (the Farm Bill) deadline is April 18 - it works to choke local production. Take 10 minutes to protect good, local food.
Posted by Sylvia Burgos at 4/13/2008 9:23 PM and is filed under Bread,Congress,Cheese,Pesticides,Farm Bill,school lunch program,Wine,local foods,Artisan 
The Congressional deadline for signing the 2007 Farm Bill is this Friday, April 18. The Farm Bill is really America's Food Bill - $280+ billion legislation that determines everything you eat:
- which foods are cheap and which are expensive
- that fats and sugars will permeate most processed foods, and that fresh carrots and greens are expensive and hard to come by
- why small-scale farms and processors are being shut out of business by US farm policies and regulations,
- why huge corporate farms thrive (Pls note - this is not a criticism of our nation's farmers)
- why corn production and prices are skyrocketing to meet our nation's hunger for gasoline (yup, ethynol)
- why the foods that promote obesity and diabetes are flooding our food supply
- why there's not enough wholesome food to meet the growing demand
- the amount of food aid available to people in poverty in our country
- what kinds of foods are channeled into school lunch programs (school programs have been significant consumers of surplus commodities - usually fatty and sugary)
- the small amount of research money provided for organic agriculture
- why conventional commodity growers are penalized when they want to rent land to smaller,vegetable growers (see NY Times Op/Ed of March 1, 2008)
- how much pesticide is allowed near - and in - your food (moves to up the amount)
If you want good, locally-produced foods to become more of what's available to you, take just 4 minutes to write your legislators. Let them know that you want them to vote down this bill and take a year to totally reform it so that we can:
- Promote diversified farms that protect our environment while producing wholesome foods (and yes, they can produce as much as this nation needs)
- Promote more organic agriculture (to benefit our health and environment)
- That cuts the massive subsidies that keep the cost of rice, corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton down and thereby keep profits up for a tiny handful of commodity-controlling companies
- That promotes local production and processing, and boosts our local economies
- That makes it easier to obtain healthful goods from within our own regions
- That de-couples our food policies from efforts to meet our energy demands (fuel)
It's easy to e-mail your local legislator. Just use this link or Google "contact Congress," type in your zip code or address and you'll get a quick e-mail address you can use. Don't wait. Your health - and your great artisan foods - are at stake.
Want to know more? Go to FarmPolicy.com ,Edible Nation , the Environmental Defense Fund , the Organic Farming Research Foundation , or Google 'Farm Bill' for other sources.
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