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Articles : CorporationsThe Two Americas of Food
Like hundreds of others across the country, my neighborhood in Brooklyn got a farmers market a few years ago. Now, with summer in full swing, I can spend any Saturday morning wandering in fresh-food bliss. But I am certainly not taking a single Bing cherry for granted. I know that for most of us, including many millions here in New York City, it’s a lot easier to find a Colt 45 than a farmers market.
Presidential candidate John Edwards likes to point out that we have two Americas when it comes to health care: one for the rich and one for everybody else.
Well, we have two Americas of food, too. For the rich and well-located – often, though not always, synonymous – we have the booming local foods movement, with more than 4,000 farmers markets now dotting the country. For the rest, we’ve got the wilted lettuce of bodegas and the high-calorie time-bombs of fast food.
This “other” America of food has led to a health epidemic of diet-related illnesses, costing us one in ten health care dollars, and to widespread hunger, too. Today, 36 million Americans often don’t know where their next meal is coming from – that’s a figure nearly the size of the entire population of Canada.
So, how do we close this food gap? One answer is immediately before us, embodied in two little words: the Farm Bill, and Congress is debating it right now.
Policies set in the Farm Bill largely determine what food we produce, who has access to it, and whose health we prioritize as a nation. Renegotiated every five years, the Farm Bill shapes much about food system, determining how $90 billion in taxpayers’ money is spent every year.
Because of policies in past Farm Bills most of our farmland isn’t used to grow organic kale, it’s used to raise commodity crops, like soy and corn for processed foods or concentrated animal feeding operations. Thanks to priorities in the Bill (or missing from it), today, nearly 100 percent of our meat is factory-farmed, hooked on antibiotics and hormones, and our fields are blanketed with manmade chemicals that poison thousands of farm workers annually and contribute to untold illnesses among us eaters.
With Farm Bill renegotiations in full swing, we have a small window – shutting fast – to bring the fairness we expect from our economy into the food chain. Hundreds of organizations – from big environmental players to community food groups – have been working on strategies to do just that. Here are some of their bright ideas:
Support All Farmers: While the nation’s largest farms get billions in Farm Bill subsidies, most farmers are left out completely. Currently, only four in ten farmers and ranchers get even a penny in subsidies. Virtually no fruit and vegetable farmers receive support. African-American, Hispanic and Native American farmers have also been historically sidelined, with devastating results. Since the 1920s, 97 percent of black farmers have lost their farms. The proposed New Farmer Development Program would provide grants, low-interest loans, and training to help these disadvantaged farmers start and expand farm businesses.
Support Organic Research and Farming: Despite the skyrocketing demand for organic foods, just 3 percent of fruit and 2 percent of vegetables raised in the United States are grown organically and less than one percent of the federal agricultural research budget goes toward studying organic practices. Among other policies, advocates are pushing for mandatory allocations of a fair share of research dollars to organic research projects.
Support Rural America: Every year, we lose more than one million acres of prime farmland as small- and medium-size farmers go out of business. The Healthy Food Enterprise Development Program would provide $25 million in new funding to repair and reinvigorate America’s agricultural infrastructure. With this funding, small-scale farmers would have greater capacity not only to grow food, but also to store it, process it, and transport it, too, so they don’t become one of thousands of farmers who lose their businesses every year.
Support the Hungry: For the millions of food insecure Americans – most of whom are women, children, and the elderly – the Farm Bill’s Food Stamps are a vital tool for fighting hunger. Yet, at current levels, Food Stamps only provide about $3 per person per day. Try getting three solid meals a day on that budget! Additional funding has been proposed not only to strengthen the Food Stamp Program, but also to make it easier for food stamp recipients to buy fresh food at farmers markets.
Support Community Food Projects: Since legislation was introduced in the 1996 Farm Bill, more than 250 organizations have received funding to develop community-based solutions to their local food and farm problems. With only $5 million a year, these Community Food Projects have helped hundreds of communities make enormous strides in closing the food gap. Organizations like the Community Food Security Coalition are now asking for an increase to $60 million a year to extend this program’s proven positive impact.
Support Healthy School Meals: As local school-food heros across the country are showing us, school food doesn’t need to be crummy. Several proposals now before Congress would provide hundreds of millions of dollars to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for our public schools, in many cases sourced directly from area farmers.
The 2007 Farm Bill can either continue to divide our country or it can ensure that farmers promoting sustainability and wellbeing get the support they need, and that all of us eaters —no matter where we live or how much we make – have access to healthy, local food. Our elected officials in Washington, DC, and those closer to home, should show us they have the wisdom to build one America where we no longer have a healthy food system for the few, but a healthy one for all.
GNN contributor Anna Lappé is the co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen and serves on the board of the Community Food Security Coalition.
Posted by anthony
Anthony Lappé is GNN's Executive Editor. He's written for The New York Times, Details, New York, Paper, The Fader and Vice, among many others. He has worked as a producer for MTV and Fuse. He is the co-author of GNN's True Lies and the producer of their Iraq doc,...
Farm bill clause conflicts with food rules
By ALLISON BECKER
COX NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON — Five lines mysteriously inserted into a mammoth farm bill could stymie efforts in several states to regulate food produced through genetic engineering and other controversial practices, farm groups and activists say.
The language, approved in a voice vote by the House Agriculture subcommittee on livestock, dairy and poultry, states:
“No state or locality shall make any law prohibiting the use in commerce of an article that the secretary of agriculture has inspected and passed or determined to be of nonregulated status.”
Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, the chairman of the subcommittee, was not available to answer questions about the provision.
His chief of staff, Susan McAvoy, declined to say which member of Congress or lobbyist had asked that the language be included as Section 123 of the bill reauthorizing federal farm programs for another five years.
In interviews, consumer advocates and representatives of small farmers said it appeared to be an effort by large agribusiness groups and companies to override state and local efforts at regulation.
Several states have passed laws restricting the sale of food from genetically modified crops and from farm animals that have been raised under questionable conditions, said Katy Ziegler, legislative director of the National Farmers Union. “A lot of states have (done so) because of lack of federal action,” Ziegler said.
The House language “opens up Pandora’s box,” she said. “It takes away the rights of states and localities to declare what’s right.”
“It would have a double effect,” said Doug Mosel, a California rice producer who successfully led efforts to ban genetically engineered crops in his county. “It would ensure continued contamination of food crops in the U.S. and remove the local right to determine if we want genetically engineered crops.”
Food activists have expressed similar concerns.
Bill Wenzel of the Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering believes that Section 123 would “eliminate” rice commissions established in Arkansas and the two other largest rice-producing states, California and Louisiana, to review and assess new rice varieties before they can be planted in those states.
Wenzel said he believes the provision also would get rid of initiatives such as a Washington state rule designed to prevent pollen contamination of rapeseed fields by genetically engineered crops. “Section 123 would eliminate programs set up in exclusive zones for promoting a locality’s own agricultural interest,” he said.
Animal rights activists say the clause could also sweep aside animal welfare laws, such as those passed in California, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas banning the slaughter of horses for food.
Some farm and industry groups support the measure.
“We are very supportive. We think if the USDA has put out a law, there is no need for states to burden the grower or producer,” said Tara Smith, congressional relations director for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Smith said she disagrees that states and counties have stepped into a void created by a U.S. Department of Agriculture failure to adequately regulate food products. “In California, there has been no legitimate reason for four counties to ban (genetically engineered) crops. It takes away a local grower’s biotechnology tools and puts (some farmers) at a disadvantage in relation to other farmers,” she said. “I think it will be fine with the Agriculture Committee members, but I’m not sure if it can survive a floor battle.”
Farm bills, passed every five years or so, reauthorize such Agriculture Department activities as price supports, food stamps, rural development and forestry.
The last farm bill, enacted in 2002, was more than 400 pages long.
Various parts of this year’s bill are being written by subcommittees and are to be folded into an overall bill.
Why ban one of the most nutritional foods known to man?
Legalize Hemp growing in the U.S.!!
Ruth’s Hemp Foods Enlists Uncle Sam to Launch Special Edition Hemp Bar in Support of Vote Hemp’s Efforts on Behalf of U.S. Farmers
Toronto , Ontario (July 4, 2007) – Ruth’s Hemp Foods is proud to introduce a special edition hemp snack bar to promote support of Vote Hemp. Vote Hemp, a Washington, DC-based industrial hemp advocacy group, is funding the legal costs of two North Dakota farmers, Dave Monson and Wayne Hauge, in the farmers’ lawsuit against the US Drug Enforcement Agency. 100 percent of all profits from the first three months’ sale of the Vote Hemp Bar will go directly to Vote Hemp. Thereafter, 20 percent of the bar’s profits will be donated to Vote Hemp for the entire life of the bar.
Ruth Shamai, president of Ruth’s Hemp Foods and a supporter of Vote Hemp’s tireless work in the US, was a key activist in the cadre composed of leading environmentalists, agriculture experts and entrepreneurs that lobbied successfully for the legalization of industrial hemp production in Canada in 1998. “The United States government should get past all the drug association rhetoric and take a clear-eyed look at low-THC industrial hemp for its many valuable assets, including it being a healthy, nutrient-dense food,” says Ruth. “And, as a bonus, it is a very low-impact, environmentally-friendly crop.”
“I know firsthand what Vote Hemp is trying to accomplish,” adds Ruth. “This is how we, as a company, can do something to show our support for Vote Hemp and, by extension, for all the farmers in the US who simply want to be able to lawfully grow low-THC industrial hemp; a crop dating back to 8000 BC that has been of significant importance to many nations, including the United States. It’s true, colonial America had mandatory hemp farming; US Presidents Washington and Jefferson both grew hemp; the first US flag was sewn from hemp canvas; and, the first two drafts of the US Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. I think the launch of our Vote Hemp Bar coincides nicely with the United States’ Independence Day. It’s time to give the US farmer freedom to choose a crop that, in Canada and elsewhere, has proven to be an economically viable crop.”
“When Ruth said that she wanted to make a Vote Hemp Bar we were ecstatic,” says Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. “I was even more blown away when I tasted its delicious Red, White and Blueberry flavor. We want to thank Ruth for having the vision to support US farmers’ right to grow hemp. On behalf of our thousands of supporters we encourage leading natural foods stores to carry the Vote Hemp Bar,” adds Steenstra, who co-founded Vote Hemp in 2000. “This is an easy thing retailers can do to help resume US hemp farming and their customers will love it, too.”
About Ruth’s Hemp Foods, Inc.
Ruth’s Hemp Foods, based in Toronto, Ontario, pioneered the use of hemp in food in North America, making Hemp Bars, Hemp Protein Powders, Omega Burgers™ (hemp-based vegetarian burger patties), Hemp Tortilla Chips, Hemp Salsa, Hemp Oil Salad Dressings, Certified Organic Hemp Oil, Certified Organic SoftHemp™ (shelled hempseed) in addition to other hemp food items. Ruth’s Hemp Foods manufacturers the most extensive line of hemp foods available—distributed throughout the US and Canada—making tasty, nutritious products that are packed with essential fatty acids and protein, and are always free of GMOs, refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, artificial preservatives, fillers and colors. For additional information, please visit: www.ruthshempfoods.com/votehemp
About Vote Hemp
Vote Hemp is a national, nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to a free US market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current federal and state laws to allow US farmers to once again grow this important agricultural crop. Vote Hemp is working to end the federal prohibition on industrial hemp farming. Vote Hemp also works to defend against any new laws, regulations or policies that would prohibit or restrict hemp commerce or imports. For additional information, please visit: www.votehemp.com
Thousands of farmers are poisoned every year by pesticides? I could eaisly believe that, but i wish you had provided the source.