My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)
By JACK HEDIN
New York Times
Rushford, Minn.
IF you’ve stood in line at a farmers’ market recently, you know that the local food movement is thriving, to the point that small farmers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand.
But consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers’ markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding. And the barriers that the United States Department of Agriculture has put in place will be extended when the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators are working on now goes into effect.
As a small organic vegetable producer in southern Minnesota, I know this because my efforts to expand production to meet regional demand have been severely hampered by the Agriculture Department’s commodity farm program. As I’ve looked into the politics behind those restrictions, I’ve come to understand that this is precisely the outcome that the program’s backers in California and Florida have in mind: they want to snuff out the local competition before it even gets started.
Last year, knowing that my own 100 acres wouldn’t be enough to meet demand, I rented 25 acres on two nearby corn farms. I plowed under the alfalfa hay that was established there, and planted watermelons, tomatoes and vegetables for natural-food stores and a community-supported agriculture program.
(Continued here.)
New York Times
Rushford, Minn.
IF you’ve stood in line at a farmers’ market recently, you know that the local food movement is thriving, to the point that small farmers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand.
But consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers’ markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding. And the barriers that the United States Department of Agriculture has put in place will be extended when the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators are working on now goes into effect.
As a small organic vegetable producer in southern Minnesota, I know this because my efforts to expand production to meet regional demand have been severely hampered by the Agriculture Department’s commodity farm program. As I’ve looked into the politics behind those restrictions, I’ve come to understand that this is precisely the outcome that the program’s backers in California and Florida have in mind: they want to snuff out the local competition before it even gets started.
Last year, knowing that my own 100 acres wouldn’t be enough to meet demand, I rented 25 acres on two nearby corn farms. I plowed under the alfalfa hay that was established there, and planted watermelons, tomatoes and vegetables for natural-food stores and a community-supported agriculture program.
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
1 Comments:
I don't know if you saw Collin Peterson's comments as reported on Brownfield Network where he predicts a new farm bill by April 15th but there may need to be another extension.
http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=7595AB33-9855-06A1-422036DA7C2DA43F
Regarding the planting fruits and vegetables on program crop acres, you may be interested in this comment.
But Peterson also said some of those proposed budget offsets from the Bush administration include items like lowering Medicare reimbursements for those on oxygen. And, Peterson added, the Bush administration’s farm bill counter-offer also contains a long list of so-called reforms that it says are non-negotiable. Peterson said that list of non-negotiable reforms includes, among many other things, inclusion of a revenue based counter-cyclical program with recourse loans, elimination of the sugar-to-ethanol program, ending the prohibition of planting fruits and vegetables on program crop acres and setting aside 25% of emergency international food aid funds under PL-480 for cash purchases of local commodities in the countries receiving U.S. food aid.
Bolding added.
Is it correct to assume by Peterson's comments that the problem is with the Bush Administration and not with Congress ?
For all long time, it has seem that Peterson is carrying this bill by himself ... the Senate has differences, and Norm Coleman seems to be AWOL.
Post a Comment
<< Home