Bush to the country’s rescue: The Senate hasn’t improved on the House version of the Food and Farm Bill, and unless something huge changes when the bill arrives on the floor, then the Gray Lady actually hopes President Bush, "who has generally been on the right side of the farm issue," will veto it. And then Iowa will turn all its factory pigs out into pasture to fly away. (New York Times)
Apathy, your name is agriculture?: This post from Center for Rural Affairs’ Dan Owens — which should be a New York Times op-ed — asks, "Why aren’t more farmers standing up and fighting for a more just farm program, one that helps small and mid-sized farms while not disadvantaging foreign producers? Why is it that the loudest voices in this debate are not farmers, but volunteers and paid advocates? Are farmers ignorant, or lazy, or indifferent?" (Blog for Rural America)
"Iowa today is California circa 1972": Tom Philpott concludes Grist’s groundbreaking farming series with a rousing call for Iowan farmers to try growing actual edible food for their neighbors. (Grist)
A game of chicken: Maryland’s poultry industry must take responsibility for poisoning the Chesapeake Bay. (Baltimore Sun)
Africa, feed thyself: The director-generals (directors-general?) of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization and of the French Development Agency write that record prices for agricultural commodities worldwide present a life-changing opportunity for African agriculture. (International Herald Tribune)
Genes out of the bottle: A Texas editorial about how the case of Monsanto vs. Canadian canola farmer Percy Schmeiser illustrates the dangers posed by so-called "life patents" to farming and the environment. (Houston Chronicle)
Reading Grist’s blog Gristmill can be like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. Three great posts you might have missed:
- Conservation corps: Sustainable Ag Coalition’s Aimee Witteman focuses on two programs included in the current Farm Bill that incorporate environmental objectives or encourage land stewardship. We just need to get our representatives to find more funding for them.
- Local food for all: Community Food Security Coalition’s Steph Larsen on why the Farm Bill should fund the Community Food Projects grant program, which helps communities empower their residents to take charge of their food supply.
- Big Muddy Orphan: Tom Philpott on a new report from the National Academy of Sciences that chides the EPA for failing to enforce the Clean Water Act in the intensive agriculture zones of the upper Mississippi. Iowa, for example, has done "bugger-all to protect the state’s citizens and streams from CAFO waste, treating the Clean Water Act like a useless piece of paper."
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