I’m not a jingoist, but I’d prefer that more of my food came from America. It’d be even better, really, if most of it came from within a few hun...
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...
A secret farm bill is certain to short-change California's diverse agriculture. Add to the list of likely losers: conservation interests, local and organic food advocates and defenders of down-and-out Americans who depend on food stamps.
At a time when the Bay states are asking farmers to do more to reduce pollution entering the Chesapeake Bay, there is danger that conservation incentives secured for Bay farmers in the last Farm Bill will be greatly reduced.
Where the farm bill allocates resources to funding food stamps, it also incentivizes the purchase of unhealthy foods.
Now is a critical time to start asking questions about what the consequences would be -- intended or otherwise -- if subsidies go away.
There is common ground to be found by everyone ranging from vegans to die-hard meat eaters. No one can deny the destructive nature of the force that dominates our food system.
Last week, a new public-relations campaign about agriculture got off to a splashy start. With full-page ads in newspapers and panel discussions live-s...
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...
In this time of debate over the use of federal funding, the project is a good example of the kind of return we can expect from well planned investments in the conservation of our land and water.
If America is the greatest nation in the world, why can't we eliminate (or significantly reduce) hunger and food insecurity in this country?
This summer, agriculture is again center stage in the policy debate. There's plenty of fat and waste in the farm programs, but there's also an urgent need for a new vision of American farming in the 21st century.
Heroes, as you know, fight evil and stuff. What you may not know is they don't always get to wear capes.
The last thing our country needs is a taxpayer-funded subsidy system that favors the very foods that contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. But that's exactly what key members in the House are standing behind.
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.
It apparently doesn't occur to the pesticide-produce lobby that the reason sales for organic products have surged is because they taste better and don't deliver toxic pesticides into one's daily diet.
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...
When it comes to unhealthy food, the primary culprits are meat and dairy, which are high in saturated fat and cholesterol, and over-sweetened processed food.
Bad federal policy and intensifying storms are washing away the rich dark soils in the Midwest that made this country an agricultural powerhouse and that remain the essential foundation of a healthy and sustainable food system in the future.
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.
Legislation passed by House Republicans (no Democrats voted for it) slashed $747 million -- about 10 percent -- from the 2011 budget for the Special Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Agricultural subsidies have helped bring us high-fructose corn syrup, factory farming, fast food, a two-soda-a-day habit and its accompanying obesity,...
Those of us who still have jobs pay taxes, so we should care about how our tax dollars influence our food systems. Because the State of the Food Union is not strong. But it could be.
WASHINGTON — Many Republicans who swept rural Democrats from office are now confronting the reality of a promise to reduce spending: Should it c...
Food and agriculture policy always comes down to money: how federal dollars will be prioritized and spent. If anyone needed reminders of this dynamic, the last year provided at least two.
