Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Finally a report on the farm bill

and why haven't I found this site before?

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis offers this three page summary of what was and was not done.

http://www.iatp.org/iatp/commentaries.cfm?refID=102665

Finally a three pager that isn't just from the perspective of grapes or cows or a chemical company, but gives a comprehensive look at what finally happened, albeit with a left leaning slant.

Many media outlets overlooked the modest but progressive provisions in the farm bill which will reward conservation efforts, encourage organic farming, and prefer local sourcing of food in some government subsidized feeding programs - all good steps.

Also ethanol incentives begin to move away from corn and toward other native cellulosic plants.

But here's the sobering fact offered as context for this report: Cargill's earnings in April 2008 were up 86% over the same period a year ago - a trend that has been going on for a decade.

If we complain when oil companies make big profits while gasoline prices rise, where's the outrage over this statistic when food prices are skyrocketing?

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