May 10, 2007

20 cents a day

Fruit and veg.jpg

Six bucks a month, that's the budget for fruit and vegetables under the proposed new Farm Bill. Two thin dimes a day for apples and carrots.

And that's NOT the problem. Actually, it's a huge step forward, beyond funding traditional, subsidized commodities like beef, eggs or cheese. The problem is, it's not cash or food stamps that mom or gran can actually spend at the farmer's market, it's a "credit."

So who takes those "credits"? Why, big supermarket chains, natch. A noble vision that should benefit local farmers ends up favoring industrial agriculture. Yuk.

Posted by Ronald Holden at May 10, 2007 8:13 PM
Comments

If the farmers don't get the credits, who does? If credts are for the producers, how do the retailers get in on the act? I'm thinking of growing sweet peas on a trellis on my garage.
To whom do I apply for a subsidy?

Posted by: Dave L at May 12, 2007 3:31 PM

Love the picture!

Posted by: Lisa Hilderbrand at May 11, 2007 10:11 AM

On top of that, large foreign national conglomerates own huge chunks of US farmland; like Japan in California. Dr. Joe

Posted by: Dr. Joe at May 11, 2007 7:13 AM