Mystery Meat, Mystery Bill
In last week’s online edition of the Nation, a forum called "One Thing to Do About Food“ posed the question, “How does America fix its dysfunctional relationship with food?” and invited 12 well-known writers (who are also farmers, academics, politicians, and activists) to give their thoughts. Alice Waters edited it, and Eric Schlosser, Wendell Berry, and Jim HIghtower are among the contributors.
While all are worth reading, I suggest you take a look at Michael Pollan’s piece on the national farm bill and how its low profile among both citizens and legislators has a big impact on what we eat—and our health.
Signed every five years by the President, the farm bill governs the production of agriculture and livestock on “a couple hundred million acres of private land,” affecting the make-up of the American food system by deciding what and where crops are produced and how much they will cost.
Most important, it controls the amount of aid given to agricultural producers--the majority, of course, goes to corn and soybean farmers.
