The Horse Slaugher Debate: Is Anyone Debating?

My family and I are horse lovers, we view horses as workers and friends just like ourselves.  I volunteer at a horse theater in Chicago, IL; my husband's cousins own thoroughbreds in Louisville, KY; and my mother's cousins run a horse farm that retires thoroughbreds and working horses in New York state. There's a great deal of care that goes into our horses and their welfare, so when a ban on the slaughter of horse is lifted in the United States we have reason to pause.  The following article as posted on The Atlantic, shows one view of many.

 

The Empathy Test: Why Nobody Cares About Horse Slaughter

By James McWilliams Dec 7 2011, as posted on The Atlantic

Early last week Congress voted to lift the ban on horse slaughter in the United States. The act has surely sent legions of horse lovers into deep depression. But the message I'm hearing from many advocates in the animal welfare world is that this decision will benefit domestic horses.

As it turns out, the most common destination for U.S. horses deemed ready for slaughter was Mexico, where slaughterhouse regulation is weak. Horses killed in the United States, I'm told, will assuredly be better off than if they'd been killed in Mexico. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), partially in deference to this logic, agrees. And as the matter is now framed, so do I.

But what I find especially disturbing is the frame. As a culture that's becoming increasingly serious about the ethics of eating, why are we more concerned with discussing where an animal should be slaughtered than whether it should be slaughtered at all? Such an ethical bypass is a stark reminder of how impoverished our thinking about the place of animals in our diet remains. The goal of this essay is thus not so much to elaborate on Congress' decision per se, but to expand the framework in which it was made and, in turn, see how the picture changes.

To do so, we might consider ducks. A significant number of ethically concerned consumers deem foie gras nothing short of a diabolical slice of suffering. Famous chefs have sworn off the stuff, and I wish I had a dime for every omnivore I know who opposes foie gras on ethical grounds. This opinion prevails despite humanity's remote relationship with the duck -- we've never worked or lived closely with these creatures, nor do we care for them as companion animals. Nonetheless, we're somehow vehement about protecting one of their internal organs.

This position stands in obvious contrast to the collective yawn we just let out upon hearing the big news that the domestically-slaughtered horse -- an animal with whom we've plowed fields, colonized continents, waged war, rode to victory, and (with thankful rarity) buggered --may be coming to a meat counter near you.

So, the question: Why do so many people consider duck liver bad but horse meat OK? The most common response to this disparity will likely be that it's the the way an animal is raised that matters when it comes to the ethical consumption of animal products. Ducks suffer when tubes are shoved down their throats to swell their livers, but horses can lead a good life and die peacefully in an abattoir. This argument is flawed.

To continue reading, visit The Atlantic here: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/12/the-empathy-test-why-nobody-cares-about-horse-slaughter/249559/

Spotlight: Let's Move and Creating Healthy Communities

Let's Move is an initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama to lower the obesity rate in America's children.  The following is an excerpt from their website about their Healthy Communities program.

"Lack of access to proper nutrition is one reason why many children are not eating the recommended levels of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

More than 23 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, live in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods that are more than a mile away from a supermarket. These communities, where access to affordable, quality, and nutritious foods is limited, are known as "food deserts."

Hunger among our children is even more widespread. A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed that in 2008, an estimated 49.1 million people, including 16.7 million children, lived in households that experienced food insecurity multiple times throughout the year. Too often, these same school age children are not eating the recommended level of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. Let’s Move! is committed to helping ensure that all families have access to healthy, affordable food in their communities.

Get started by initiating a conversation about childhood obesity in your community. Bring together everyone who has a role –parents, city offices, faith-based and community-based organizations, schools, parks and recreation departments, businesses, childcare facilities and hospitals. Then, work together to make neighborhoods healthier by creating opportunities for physical activity and access to healthy, affordable food.

With the conversation started, take the next step and become a Let’s Move! City or Town. Every city and every town is different, and each requires a distinct approach to this issue. Let’s Move Cities and Towns emphasizes the unique ability of communities to solve the challenge locally, aided by the crucial leadership of mayors and elected officials to provoke action."

For more information on Let's Move visit: http://www.letsmove.gov/healthy-communities#



Meatpackers VS. Small Ranchers, The Debate Continues

If one of the only industries left in the United States is our food are we paying a fair price for our local economies?  Are we paying a fair price for our meat? Some of these questions are addressed in Tom Laskawy's article below.

Killing the Competition: Meat Industry Reform Takes a Blow

by Tom Laskawy

published on Grist, November 9, 2011

"One of the least-discussed but most promising attempts at food system reform was dealt a serious blow the other day. The USDA itself eviscerated its proposed reform to a set of rules which would have given a government division with a wonky name–the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA)–authority to crack down on the way large corporate meatpackers wield power over small and mid-sized ranchers.
To say this was a lost opportunity is a vast understatement. After all, the top four companies control 90 percent of all beef processing. In the case of pork, four companies control 70 percent of the processing, while for poultry it’s nearly 60 percent. When you get that kind of market power,* abuse becomes rampant. Indeed, ranchers all around the country now agree that it’s impossible for them to get a fair price for livestock.

And it’s not just the ranchers who hold that opinion. As hard as it is to believe, back in 2008, a group of farm-state senators inserted language into that year’s Farm Bill that forced the USDA to address the unfairness in livestock markets.

The existing livestock laws date back to 1921–when the government first identified the need to level the playing field for smaller ranchers–but since then it has been observed almost entirely in the breach (i.e. not so much at all). But in 2009, USDA Chief Tom Vilsack called in reform-minded lawyer Dudley Butler to head the division in charge of livestock markets. Butler declared that he was coming to Washington ”to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act.” Not fix, mind you, enforce. And some would say for the first time.

All of this effort is to halt what has been called the “chickenization” of the rest of the livestock industry. As reporter Stephanie Ogburn explained in an in-depth report for the High Country News, that we ran here at Grist, the poultry industry is run in such a way that allows single companies to own every step of the process (also known as “vertical integration”), while farmers get locked into lose-lose contracts. As Ogburn wrote:

90 percent of all poultry in the U.S. is now raised by growers who don’t own the birds or negotiate basic terms like price per pound …
Many chicken farmers these days are forced, contractually, to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in chicken houses that meet ever-changing packer specifications.

If anything goes wrong, as it often does, it’s the farmer who’s left holding the bag chickens with no recourse from the meatpackers. If things remain as they are, that kind of indentured servitude represents the future for most beef and pork growers. All the power will remain with a handful of massive corporate behemoths, and ranchers will be glorified hired help taking on all the risk and getting little or no reward.

Believe it or not, the USDA’s Vilsack and Butler came through last year with strong new proposed rules to protect smaller producers that would have changed all that. The draft rule garnered support from many quarters — including the typically Big Ag-friendly American Farm Bureau–and prompted the moderate ag lobbying group the National Farmers Union to refer to it approvingly as “the Ranchers Bill of Rights.”

Of course, the rule soon came under withering assault from the meatpacking industry, which commissioned a study designed to prove that the new rule would cost a ludicrous $14 billion and 104,000 jobs. Meanwhile, no mention was made of how many jobs might be saved by the rule–cattle ranching alone has shed 650,000 jobs over the last 30 years, while the number of hog farms dropped by 170,000 between 1992 and 2004, which can only have cost jobs.

The meatpackers also convinced Congress to hold a series of hearings packed with pro-Big Ag witnesses while House Republicans attempted to defund USDA work on the rule entirely (just recently foiled by the Senate). In short, the industry was hell-bent to kill this reform. That alone should tell you how important it was."


Continue reading the full article article at Grist
http://www.grist.org/factory-farms/2011-11-09-killing-the-competition-meat-industry-reform-takes-a-blow

You and Your Bird

If you don't want to know how your Thanksgiving bird was raised, do not read the following. But, there are alternatives to tradition. Contemplate a buying a turkey from a local farmer for your meal either this or next year. A great site to start looking for Thanksgiving bird or Christmas ham is Local Harvest.

Heritage Turkeys For A New Breed of Eaters

by bmazurek

"“Heritage” has become a buzzword for discriminating home cooks wondering what bird should grace their Thanksgiving dinner table this season. But while conventional supermarket turkeys cost about $1.50 per pound, heritage turkeys can fetch up to $10 per pound, a considerable price difference that raises eyebrows for many shoppers. So, what’s all the fuss about?

Bill and Nicolette Hahn Niman of BN Ranch in Bolinas, California, have made a point of educating eaters about the value of heritage turkeys, as well as the hidden costs of commodity turkey farming. “I want people to understand the difference and why it costs more,” says Nicolette Hahn Niman, who is also an environmental lawyer and author of the book Righteous Porkchop. “Obviously, they can make their own choice, but it’s an informed choice.”

To understand why heritage birds command a higher price, you have to know that it’s not just a different breed you’re paying for. It’s the additional time and care they take to raise and the fact that heritage turkeys tend to be raised more humanely than conventional turkeys, with space to roam and access to pasture.

According to the USDA, Americans eat about 45 million turkeys for Thanksgiving each year, 99 percent of which are Broad Breasted Whites. These birds have been bred for a heavy breast and rapid growth. As a result, they experience a myriad of health and mobility issues as they mature, including the inability to fly and, in some cases, walk. They cannot mate naturally, so breeders must use artificial insemination for reproduction. In short, if left to nature, the modern turkey would not survive.

Your typical Thanksgiving turkey is raised in a high-density confinement facility, in which it endures overcrowding, poor sanitation, and lack of access to outdoor space. The waste from these industrial operations places a heavy environmental toll on the surrounding landscape. But a growing number of ranchers are raising birds in a more sustainable way."

To continue reading about Heritage Turkeys, follow this link to the Civil Eats blog.
http://civileats.com/2011/11/17/heritage-turkeys-for-a-new-breed-of-eaters/

If you would really love to learn more about the treatment of your bird.  Read this article from Civil Eats blog. http://civileats.com/2011/11/10/the-truth-about-turkey/ 

USDA: 'Locally Grown' Food A $4.8 Billion Business

We may have seen a downturn in our local economies but our local food economies are continuing to grow.  As posted by The Associated Press, locally grown food is a 4.8 billion dollar business.  We all know the value of keeping our dollar in our communities so go out and support your local farmers by buying at Farmers Markets, CSAs (Community Support Agriculture) and Co-ops. It may be winter in the States but  many farmers have adapted hoop houses and winter harvesting/ storage methods in order to keep their produce in your market. Do a quick internet search for indoor farmers markets in your area, try Local Harvest; and if that produces no results call your city/ town's chamber of commerce for help in finding local farmers and businesses who could use your patronage.

"A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says sales of "local foods," whether sold direct to consumers at farmers markets or through intermediaries such as grocers or restaurants, amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That's a number several times greater than earlier estimates, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year.

While there's plenty of evidence local food sales have been growing, it has been hard to say by how much because governments, companies, consumers and food markets disagree on what qualifies as local. The USDA report included sales to intermediaries, such as local grocers and restaurants, as well as directly to consumers through farmers markets, roadside stands and the like.

It found that farm sales to people like Anderson have just about doubled in the past two decades, from about $650 million, adjusted for inflation, in the early 1990s to about $1.2 billion these days. The much bigger, $4.8 billion figure came when sales to local restaurants, retailers and regional food distributors were added in."

For the full article, visit: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=142294661

7 Most Powerful Foodies

Fordes article names the world's seven most powerful foodies.  

 “Though still quite young, the movement to reform the American food system, from farm to diet, is one of the most hopeful social movements of our time,” says Michael Pollan. ”It had its roots in the 1970s with Francis Moore Lappe’s “Diet for a Small Planet” and Wendell Berry’s “The Unsettling of America.” The issue returned with Eric Schlosser’s landmark investigation, “Fast Food Nation.” Here are the movement’s most powerful voices.”

#1 Michelle Obama, First Lady, U.S.

#2 Marion Nestle, Professor, New York University

#3 Josh Viertel, President, Slow Food USA

#4 Will Allen, Urban Farmer, Growing Power

#5 Jack Sinclair, Head of Grocery, Wal-Mart

#6 Ken Cook, Executive Director, Environmental Working Group

#7 Mark Bittman, Columnist, The New York Times

 

Source: Forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/11/02/michael-pollan-the-worlds-7-most-powerful-foodies/

Good Food Film Countdown

If you are a foodie and movie lover, this contest is for you. Good Food Film Countdown


1. Visit the Good Food Film page on Snagfilms.com.

2. Click "Go" to sign in and vote for your favorite documentary and fictional film!

3. After November 28, the best film from each category will be announced!

The top 5  feature and documentary food films are:

Feature Film 

Ratatouille 

Chocolat  

Julie and Julia 

Fried Green Tomatoes  

Like Water for Chocolate 

  

Documentary

Food Inc.  

Supersize Me  

King Corn  

The Future of Food 

Kings of Pastry 

Film and food fans who vote for their top documentary and feature food film will be entered to win free food and environmentally safe products for a year from signature sponsors including Applegate, Stonyfield, Organic Valley, Nature's Path Organic, Earth Friendly Products, and a burrito party for 50 from Chipotle!

From now until November 28, 2011, you have the chance to pick the best documentary and feature food film of all time and win!

Additional sponsors for the Good Food Film Countdown include Whole Foods Market, Beanfields, Bon Appetit, Nutiva and FrogTV. A selection of food films are currently available for free streaming online via SnagFilms.com.

Information reprinted from Family Farmed e-mail blast.

Federal Contradiction?

Thanks to Parke Wilde and the U.S. Food Policy blog  Another food policy contradiction uncovered. This time the McRib is back and full of un-healthy surprises...

Federal policy and the McRib

"The McRib stands for the proposition that the federal government should help the pork industry promote any product, no matter how contrary to the government's own dietary guidance efforts in the midst of an epidemic of overweight and chronic disease."

Parke Wilde's insight raises a good point.  Whose interest is in the government's hands? Capitalism or Health?

Farm Bill - Addressing Food Deserts & Expanding Farmers Markets

The following are two additional pieces of legislation that address problems in our food systems.  


Please call your your state Senators and Representative in support of these Acts.  Once their administrative assistant answers the phone all you need to tell them is what bill you are calling about (include the number and name) and that you are in favor.  Most likely they will also ask for your zip code and/ or address.


The Community Agriculture Development and Jobs Act (H.R. 3225)  
Representative Marcy Kaptur (OH)

This bill would create an Office of Community Agriculture, specifically tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that existing USDA programs address the root causes of food deserts and food insecurity.


The Expanding Access to Farmers Markets Act (S. 1593)  
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)

This bill designed to help SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) participants use their benefits to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables by providing wireless EBT technology to farmers markets and other local food enterprises.

Diversity, Market Competition and the Farm Bill

You many wonder why the Farm Bill is important to you.  Or why you should support the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 [H.R. 3236] and the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act of 2011 [S. 1773 and H.R. 3286].  Why support some legislation I know practically nothing about?


There are many beginning farmers starting their long careers in farming who need our assistance.  Since 1935 our country has gone from 6.8 million farms to less than 2 million farms in 1990 (USDA/Economic Research Service reports).  "In spite of the predominance of family farms, there is strong evidence of a trend toward concentration in agricultural production. By 1997, a mere 46,000of the two million farms in this country accounted for 50% of sales of agricultural products (USDA, 1997 Census of Agriculture data). That number was down from almost 62,000 in 1992. (EPA)"


In a country that prides itself on diversity and market competition, this loss of farms is staggering.   Especially when taken into consideration that our world population of 6 billion will grow to 8.3 billion by 2030 (FAO).  Not only do we need new farms for food production, but we need new farmers.  Today, 40% of our farmers in this country are 55 years old or older (Bureau of Labor Statistics).


My husband and I are one of the many who have taken up the call to go back to the land.  We are 34 and 30, respectively, and were not raised on a farm.  In fact we are recipients of the previous farm bill, as the farm business program we are attending, Stateline Farm Beginnings, is indirectly funded by USDA grant monies.


You can find stories of other beginning farmers in this New York Times article, Sheep Lawn Mowers, and Other Go-Getters.


Please support us and other beginning farmers in renewing our farm land.  Call your your state Senators and Representative in support of these Acts.  Once their administrative assistant answers the phone all you need to tell them is what Act you are calling about (include the number and name) and that you are in favor.  Most likely they will also ask for your zip code and/ or address.

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 [H.R. 3236]
Link to text of legislation:  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3236:

• NSAC's webpage devoted to the bill

Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act of 2011 [S. 1773 and H.R. 3286] 
Link to text of legislation:   http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3286:

• Sen. Brown's press release
• Rep. Pingree's press release
• NSAC's press release
  
• NSAC's blog about the bill introduction
  
• NSAC's action alert on the bill
• NSAC's webpage devoted to the bill 

Farm Bill - Call your Representatives

"Last week the Agriculture Committee leadership proposed to rewrite the food and farm bill by November 1st – yes you heard that right, 2 weeks from when they declared their intention. This is usually a year plus process and they want to do it in 2 weeks?! This would be the fastest food and farm bill decision-making process in history...and the least responsible.

If you care about the health of America’s soil, water, and land; promoting organic practices and conservation; helping a new generation of struggling small and mid-sized farmers get their start; rebuilding local and regional food systems; or developing new markets and healthy food access – now is the time to speak up. If you want to see a healthier, more secure, environmentally sustainable, and prosperous America– now is the time to speak up.

This proposal [i] would wipe out over 40 percent of the funding increases for conservation and environmental initiatives achieved in the 2002 and 2008 food and farm bills, setting the clock back and “un-greening” the farm bill.   Moreover, it is unclear what the proposal would do to the fair and healthy farm and food system programs won in 2008 with your help, but in need of being renewed in the new farm bill.  It could potentially wipe out all of those gains as well.

Contact your representatives, find their information here:

http://www.senate.gov/
http://www.house.gov/


Also, call Wisconsin Congressman Reid Ribble who is on the Agriculture Committee. Please call his office at (202) 225-5665.   If the line is busy, please leave a brief voicemail message:

The Message:  I want Representative (your representative) to know that:
 
The proposed farm conservation cuts are too big and should be reduced. In particular, the Conservation Stewardship Program funding should be retained and Wetlands Reserve Program funding should be restored.
Farm commodity program reform should include caps on the amount of subsidy any one farm can receive.  Loopholes allowing multiple subsidy payments to single farms should be closed. Conservation requirements should be attached to all forms of revenue and crop insurance subsidies.
The farm bill must reinvest at least $1 billion a year in innovative, job-creating programs for rural economic development, local and regional food systems, renewable energy, organic farming, and young and beginning farmers.


Thank you for taking action!


[i]According to published accounts, the leaders of the Agriculture Committees are proposing cuts of $6.5 billion to conservation programs, $5 billion to nutrition programs, and $15 billion to commodity subsidy programs.  The conservation cuts would be on top of the $2 billion already made by Congress in the appropriations process."

Re-printed: Copyright (C) 2011 The Michael Fields Agricultural Institute All rights reserved.

Farm Bill - Include Organic Farming

If you eat organically or care about the affects of convential farming on our food systems please sign the below letter to the Committee on Agriculture.  They are behind closed doors writing the Farm Bill.  This Farm Bill has to be written by Nov 1 to be included in the Nov 23 deadline for the Super Committee $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction plan.

Sign the petition at this website: 

http://www.change.org/petitions/chairman-of-the-us-house-agriculture-committee-support-organic-farming-in-the-farm-bill.


LETTER TO AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE:


DATE

The Honorable Debbie Stabenow
Chairwoman, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
 The Honorable Frank Lucas
Chairman, U.S. House Committee on Agriculture
 The Honorable Pat Roberts
Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
 The Honorable Collin Peterson
Ranking Member, U.S. House Committee on Agriculture

 
Dear Chairwoman Stabenow, Chairman Lucas, and Ranking Members Roberts and Peterson:

As you prepare to provide Farm Bill funding details to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, we are writing to urge you to continue and expand the investments made by the 2008 Farm Bill in organic agriculture.  

Organic agriculture is one of the fastest growing sectors of agriculture, creating jobs in rural America and lucrative market opportunities for American family farmers.  Strong consumer demand has fueled the growth in organic agriculture, helping farmers stay in business even through one of the worst economic downturns in the country's history.  Nationwide, the organic sector has become a $29 billion industry, creating jobs at four times the national rate and served by over 14,500 organic family farmers. 

Currently, domestic demand for organic food and beverages exceeds domestic production.  With a modest investment in USDA research, marketing, and farmer assistance programs to support the U.S. organic sector, we can close the gap and expand this critical job base here at home.  In order to meet projected market demand with domestic production by 2015, we will need 42,000 organic farmers in the U.S.  

To foster that growth, we urge a continued and expanded federal investment in the following USDA programs: 
The Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) is USDA's flagship competitive research and extension grants program dedicated to organic agriculture.  Unique in its scope and function, OREI funds research and extension projects to help meet the production, marketing, and policy needs of the growing organic industry.  The program is very competitive and each year funds only a small percentage of eligible proposals.  To meet the growing sector's research and extension needs, OREI should be funded at $30 million in mandatory funds annually, and retain its authorization for appropriation.
The National Organic Certification Cost-share Program (NOCCSP) is essential in helping small and medium-size businesses become certified as organic, a critical step if we are to meet growing consumer demand for organic products and maintain diversity in scale of organic operations.  The annual process of organic certification is a necessary step for ensuring that all organic operations meet stringent organic standards, in order to ensure the integrity of the USDA organic seal and meet consumer expectations.  But certification costs  can be are prohibitive for small, mid-sized, and beginning businesses.  This cost-share program enables certified organic farmers and handlers to offset the costs of certification by providing a small reimbursement of currently no more than $750 per year, capped at 75% of total certification costs.  NOCCSP should be funded at $30 million in total mandatory funding over the 5-year life of the next Farm Bill.      
The National Organic Program (NOP) enforces the national organic program standards, accredits certifiers, develops equivalency agreements, handles complaints - in essence, NOP ensures the integrity of the organic seal. These are essential functions to the survival and growth of the organic sector.  Additionally, the program requires a capital investment in innovative technologies that will position the program to be able to grow with the organic sector, providing domestic and international oversight, and transparency and streamlining of systems, data, and information.  NOP should receive a one-time infusion of $5 million in mandatory funds for the technology upgrade, and then should be authorized to receive appropriations increasing at rate of 20 percent annually beginning with $10 million in FY 2013.                
The Organic Production and Market Data Initiatives (ODI) is a small but significant multi-agency initiative that ensures that USDA collects organic statistics, conducts organic price reporting, and releases organic economic reports.  The Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the Agricultural Marketing Service all collaborate on this data collection initiative.  Access to segregated organic data is critical to help organic farmers and handlers make wise business decisions, and to policymakers needing to assess trends in agriculture.  ODI should receive $5 million in mandatory funding over the life of the next farm bill, and retain its authorization for appropriations.           
The 2008 Farm Bill included important provisions in Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for organic farmers in recognition of the historical lack of participation and conservation benefits of these systems. However, both programs are in need of reform to address the unique needs of organic farming systems.  Issues such as the unfamiliarity of NRCS staff with organic systems, overlapping planning requirements with the National Organic Program, and lack of adequate planning assistance should be addressed in the next Farm Bill.   
One of the basic building blocks of any successful agricultural system - conventional or organic - is farmer access to seeds that are well adapted to local soils and climates.  Farmers nationwide have fewer choices of seeds to meet changing environmental stresses and consumer demands.  Often, the seeds that are available are not bred to address local soil and climate conditions, placing entire regions at a competitive disadvantage.  The federal government has largely stopped funding classical breeding efforts at State land grant institutions to develop public cultivars, and has largely shifted agricultural germplasm research toward only patented varieties that prevent farmers from saving seeds.  The problem is particularly acute for organic farmers whose farming systems demand seeds that are well adapted to their local conditions.  The 2008 Farm Bill addressed this growing crisis by requiring USDA to make classical plant and animal breeding a priority with the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), but USDA has not complied with that Congressional mandate.   To require USDA to get the job done, the next Farm Bill should require a set aside of 10 percent of annual AFRI funding to be used for classical breeding efforts to ensure meaningful public seed variety choices for farmers.     
USDA currently does not provide appropriate risk management tools for organic producers.  The agency charges an unjustified surcharge to organic farmers who participate in federal crop insurance program, and does not pay organic farmers at the organic price after a loss for most commodities.  In addition, the agency does not provide appropriate tools for diversified farmers.  The 2008 Farm Bill required USDA to remove the unjustified organic crop insurance surcharge and to provide organic price elections.  While USDA has started the process for some organic crops, it has fallen far short of the 2008 Farm Bill mandates in that regard.  The next Farm Bill must fully remove these unnecessary and unjustified disincentives to organic farmer use of USDA risk management tools.    
Thank you for your consideration of these critical concerns for our farms, businesses, and communities.  

Sincerely,
 ( Your Name Here)

Who Says Food is a Human Right

Check out this article on the debate about world hunger. Thought provoking about the root of power in giving and withholding food and proper nutrition.

"

In 1981, Nobel Prize–winning economist Amartya Sen published Poverty and Famines, challenging the common perception about the root causes of hunger. Through careful analysis of hunger in India, Bangladesh and Saharan countries from the 1940s onward, Sen documented that famines had occurred amid ample food supply, even in some countries exporting food. His conclusion—radical at the time—was that famine is not a crisis of productivity but a crisis of power. Ten years earlier, in her 1971 book, Diet for a Small Planet, my mother, Frances Moore Lappé, put forward a similarly heretical notion: on a planet that produces more than enough calories to make us all chubby, hunger’s root cause is clearly not a scarcity of food but a scarcity of democracy.

Forty years later, the debate about the roots of hunger, and therefore the most effective solutions, persists. Yet, an idea once heretical—that to address hunger we must talk about democracy, power and human rights—is now gaining traction.
"
Anna Lappé  September 14, 2011   |   
This article appeared in the October 3, 2011 edition of The Nation.

http://www.thenation.com/article/163390/who-says-food-human-right

Feeding Chicago

Check out these articles on Chicagoland foodshed research done by University of Chicago.  The research group, Feeding the City (http://feedingthecity.uchicago.edu/) is headed by Pamela Martin and Todd Schuble.  As reported by esri.com it is possible to feed all of Chicago on locally grown food.

"What they found was surprising. The foodshed wasn't really that large. An 80-mile buffer around Chicago encompassed sufficient land to adequately feed the city's inhabitants. Many areas designated as high-yield farmland were already being farmed. "We weren't looking at having to plow under tracts of homes in order to feed people," said Schuble. "We were using already cultivated land for our model.""

ERSI links:
http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0911/feeding-chicago.html
http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0911/making-connections.html

University of Chicago links:
http://feedingthecity.uchicago.edu/?q=node/133

Farm Bill 2012

It is October 2011 and on the minds of our nation's farmers is the ever looming question of the Farm Bill.  What will the US Department of Agriculture write into the 2012 Farm Bill? Will the budget be under the control of the USDA or under the control of the Super Committee?

For those of us interested in local, organic, specialty crops and rural development the 2008 Farm Bill designated $7.1 billion of the total budget (projected to be $640.7 billion over 2008-17) to "agricultural trade programs, new horticulture and organic spending, and supplemental disaster assistance". 

This was the first time mandatory funding was given to local and regional food systems.  As we've seen over the last 3 years there has been an increased demand and awareness for local and organic foods.  Although the demand has grown we still lack sufficient supply of local, regional, and organic foods, and the cost of these foods is higher than what is available in the supermarkets.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture has been able to use these monies to great effect in their Specialty Crop Grants.  These grants have awarded monies to farmers markets which  create a space for us to trade for good, healthy locally grown foods in support of the security of our regional food systems.

Advocating for local, regional, and organic food in the 2012 Farm Bill is Representative
Chellie Pingree (D-ME). Congresswoman Pingree and others will introduce a Local & Regional Food Systems Marker Bill with the goal of having those items included in the final Farm Bill.  The bill's provisions and programs will touch on the following topics:

value-added agriculture;
farm credit;
agricultural research;
specialty crops;
organic farming;
nutrition programs;
farmers markets;
crop insurance for diversified operations;
food safety; and
conservation

Look for its introduction in late October/ early November. 

For further reading:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/farm-bill-2012-innovative-farming_n_860069.html