2012 Farm Bill

Bipartisanship Is Not Always Democratic

Rajiv Narayan | Posted 05.20.2012

Read More: Farm Bill, 2012 Farm Bill, Agriculture, Farm Bill Politics, Farm Bill Harry Reid, Farm Bill Mitch McConnell, Food Politics, Politics News
Rajiv Narayan

Known as the Farm Bill, this legislation is projected to cost a half-trillion dollars over five years. A legislative package so large that it will impact the food process from sowed seed to second serving deserves better than both sides of the aisle.

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This Is Why You're Fat: The 2012 Farm Bill and the Real Obesity Lobby

Suzanne Merkelson | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: U.S. Senate, Farm Bill, Obesity Crisis, 2012 Farm Bill, Lobbying, Obesity, Beverage Industry, Monsanto, Childhood Obesity, Food Industry, Farm Subsidies, Politics News
Suzanne Merkelson

The food and beverage industry has been relentless in Washington lately, more than doubling their spending in Washington during the past three years, completely outpacing public interest groups looking out for children's health.

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I Call the Vote: A Farm Bill Litmus Test for the Food Movement

Ken Cook | Posted 05.10.2012

Read More: Healthy Food, Farm Bill, Farm Subsidies, 2012 Farm Bill, Healthy School Lunches, Healthy Eating, Kids Healthy Eating, School Lunches, Healthy Eating Habits, Green News
Ken Cook

Is offering a healthy snack the only idea in the farm bill that should matter to the food movement? Of course not.

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Four Ways The Farm Bill Can Make You Crazy

Dan Imhoff | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Farming, Sustainable Agriculture, 2012 Farm Bill, Farms, Farm Bill, Agricultural Policy, Agriculture, Food News
Dan Imhoff

A rational, coherent blueprint for a healthy national food supply might be too much to ask. But after years of studying the Farm Bill, I'd be thrilled to see a dent made in four of its most glaring conflicts of purpose.

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Qnexa: A Magic Bullet for Weight Loss?

Gerard E. Mullin, M.D. | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Qnexa, Weight Loss, 2012 Farm Bill, Obesity, Qnexa Side Effects, Qnexa Weight Loss, Health News, Qnexa Obesity, Qnexa Fda, Diabetes, Qnexa FDA Approved, Qnexa FDA Approval, Healthy Living News
Gerard E. Mullin, M.D.

I still have many questions about the safety of Qnexa, regardless of its effectiveness. Do the potential risks outweigh the potential benefits? The jury is still out.

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Lynne Peeples

Farm Bill 2012 Eyed For Enhancing Conservation -- Of Soil And Farmers' Livelihood

HuffingtonPost.com | Lynne Peeples | Posted 02.28.2012

Read More: Water Quality, Food System, Farm Bill 2012, Farm Bill, Farming, Soil, 2012 Farm Bill, Insurance, Subsidized-Crop-Insurance-Program, Topsoil, Conservation, Usda, Sustainable Farming, Green News

American farmers suffered more crop losses in 2011 than in any other year in recorded history. Total insurance payouts have surpassed $9 billion, and ...

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The Farm Bill Saga Begins (Again): Will Development Be on the Stage, in the Wings or Out of Luck?

Kimberly Ann Elliott | Posted 04.15.2012

Read More: Capitol Hill, Trade, Agriculture, Farm Bill, 2012 Farm Bill, Business News
Kimberly Ann Elliott

The budget situation offers opportunities to reform American farm policy to make it more efficient and equitable -- at home and abroad -- but only if the issues are debated fully and openly and with all the stakeholders represented.

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Lynne Peeples

Farming With The Grain, Or Against It: The 2012 Farm Bill And Climate Change

HuffingtonPost.com | Lynne Peeples | Posted 12.13.2011

Read More: Pesticides, Farm Bill, 2012 Farm Bill, Crop Insurance, Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Change, Farm Subsidies, Water Scarcity, Green News

It wasn't a hurricane that devastated Mark Doyle's apples this year. Rather, an unusually cold and wet spring in the Northeast had already done enough...

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Lynne Peeples

Environment At Risk From Anticipated Farm Bill Cuts

HuffingtonPost.com | Lynne Peeples | Posted 12.13.2011

Read More: Water Quality, Farming, Farm Bill, Drought, Super Committee, 2012 Farm Bill, Ecosystem Services, Budget Cuts, Dust Storm, Flood, Conservation, Erosion, Green News

On October 17, a massive dust storm hit Lubbock, Texas, adding to already significant agricultural and environmental devastation across the South this...

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Lynne Peeples

Betting More Than Just The Farm: Public Health, Environment At Stake In 'Farm Bill'

HuffingtonPost.com | Lynne Peeples | Posted 11.30.2011

Read More: Farm Bill, Farming, Commodities, 2012 Farm Bill, Ecosystem Services, Super Committee, Food Stamps, Conservation, Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Change, Green News

Some U.S. farmers are paid to leave their land wild; others are compensated when weather devastates their cultivated land. Still others receive money ...

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Back on the Farm

Edward Flattau | Posted 01.28.2012

Read More: Farm Bill, 2012 Farm Bill, Farm, Agriculture, Green News
Edward Flattau

It is good news that some farmers recently have been able to buy back their acreage from developers as land prices have fallen and crop prices have risen. But this news is not nearly good enough.

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Congress Says Pizza and French Fries Are Vegetables!

Rep. Earl Blumenauer | Posted 01.16.2012

Read More: Farm Bill, Food, Childhood Nutrition, 2012 Farm Bill, Nutrition, Earl Blumenauer, Politics News
Rep. Earl Blumenauer

Like many of you, when I heard that Congress decided that pizza is a vegetable, I thought it had to be a headline from The Onion.

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Why the Farm Bill Matters

Maria Rodale | Posted 01.15.2012

Read More: Maria Rodale's Blog, New Farm Bill, Just Food NYC, Farm Subsidies, The Farm Bill, Maria's Farm Country Kitchen, Just Food, 2012 Farm Bill, Green News
Maria Rodale

by guest blogger Amy Blankstein of Just Food, a non-profit that turns "food deserts" (i.e., neighborhoods underserved by supermarkets and other food ...

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Six Ways To Help
End Big Farm Handouts

Maria Rodale | Posted 01.08.2012

Read More: Maria Rodale, Thomas M. Kostigen, Farm Bill, Maria's Farm Country Kitchen, Farm Subsidies, Factory Farms, 2012 Farm Bill, Green News
Maria Rodale

by guest blogger Thomas M. Kostigen, expert on social responsibility and environmental issues. Want to eat more healthfully? Tell your representati...

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Meatless Monday: What Nourishes Us -- The Local Food, Farms And Jobs Act

Ellen Kanner | Posted 01.07.2012

Read More: Local Food, Tara Garnett, Down and Dirty Rice, Farms and Jobs Act, Thanks, Meatless Monday, 2012 Farm Bill, Brillat-Savarin, Food Climate Research Network, Food, Green News
Ellen Kanner

Let's hear it for Democrats Chellie Pingree and Sherrod Brown, who last week introduced the Local Food, Farms and Jobs Act as part of the 2012 Farm Bill. The Act will increase funding to small farmers pursuing national organic certification and to underserved communities seeking greater access to fresh, local produce.

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Oh No! The Farm Bill Stole My Baby! (video)

Nicole Betancourt | Posted 01.02.2012

Read More: Farm Bill, 2012 Farm Bill, Sarah Schenck, Parentearth, parentearth.com, Childhood Nutrition, The Farm Bill, Children's Health, Childhood Obesity, Video, Food News
Nicole Betancourt

Do you ever wonder why highly processed foods are so profitable for the food industry? The Farm Bill makes their primary ingredients cheaper, and fa...

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BIllions Of Taxerpayer Dollars Keep Junk Food Cheap, Study Finds

Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: Farm Bill, Junk Food, Video, 2012 Farm Bill, Junk Food Subsidies, Public Health, Farm Subsidies, Usda, Slidepollajax, Food News

It's a well known fact that most farm subsidies go to crops, like feed corn, that aren't exactly healthy. They're crops that are easy to grown en mass...

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Agricultural Policy Should Fuel Health, Not Epidemics!

Elizabeth Kucinich | Posted 07.24.2011

Read More: American Heart Association, Fast Food, Congress, USDA Nutrition Programs, Type 2 Diabetes, Health Care Costs, Agriculture, USDA Policy, Subsidies, Agriculture Reform, Elizabeth Kucinich, Federal Budget, Agricultural Subsidies, Farm Bill, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 2012 Farm Bill, House Agriculture Committee, Federal Budget Deficit, Prevention, Health, Food Politics, Agriculture Subsidies, Food, Usda, Pcrm, Medical Costs, Diabetes, Farm Subsidies, Heart Disease, Diabetes Prevention, Vegetarian, Vegan, Agribusiness, Veganism, Fruit, Industrial Agriculture, Meat, House Appropriations Committee, Preventative Healthcare, Food Policy Agenda, Appropriations, Death, Doctors, Cholesterol, Healthy Diet, Diet, Healthy Eating, Unhealthy Diets, Hal Rogers, Obesity, Politics News
Elizabeth Kucinich

In 2009, USDA spent more than twice as much buying meat and dairy as it did on fruits and vegetables. What that means is that the USDA used taxpayers' money to buy about $1.5 billion worth of meat and dairy.

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Joanna Zelman

Time To Overhaul Our Nation's Farming Systems?

HuffingtonPost.com | Joanna Zelman | Posted 07.12.2011

Read More: Farm Bill 2012, Farm Bill, 2012 Farm Bill, Organic Food, Environment, John Reganold, Sustainable Agriculture, Conventional Farming, Washington State University Soil Science, John Reganold Farming, Innovative Farming, Green News

It's time to overhaul the Farm Bill. That's the message conveyed in a recent policy paper featured in "Science" magazine. The authors of the paper...

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No Quick Subsidies Fix for Food System

Wenonah Hauter | Posted 06.04.2011

Read More: Factory Farms, Farming, Farm Subsidies, Subsidies, Farm Bill, Agriculture Subsidies, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2012 Farm Bill, Food News
Wenonah Hauter

From chefs and policy wonks to teachers and bloggers, everyone interested in food has an opinion on subsidies and how to craft the 2012 Farm Bill.

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Farm Bill 2012: The Shelf Life Theory

Donald Carr | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Hunger, Farm Subsidy, Crop, Commodity, 2012 Farm Bill, Michelle Obama, Corn, Farm, Agribusiness, Cancer, Farm Subsidies, Obesity, Corporate Farm, Farm Bill, Ncga, Food News
Donald Carr

The battle has already begun over the direction of America's broken food and farm policy and how to shape it in the next farm bill.

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