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March 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
The fate of American
food policy lies in the hands of Washington policy makers. With federal
spending that determines funding for food assistance programs and
federal agriculture policy, the shape of the country’s food landscape
hangs in the balance. ~ Jessica Jewell
This September, the
2008 Farm Bill, officially known as the Food, Conservation and Energy
Act of 2008, expires. The Farm Bill determines who sinks, who swims and
what makes it to our plates, for better or for worse.
Every five years, the
Senate, house Agricultural Committees and congressional super
committees pass new legislation that determines the fate of U.S. food
policy. It began in the wake of the Great Depression with the goal of
supporting American farmers.
The legislation has a tremendous impact on everyone in this country, not just farmers. According to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,
consumers, rural communities and over 40 million people who benefit
from food assistance are directly affected by decisions made in the
bill.
Lawmakers past
choices failed to address crucial concerns pertaining to health,
sustainability and conservation. It’s integral that merging issues that
address locally sourced foods and organic farming be discussed in the
upcoming bill.
Current food policies
support monocultures, namely corn and soy, and are pushed into the food
supply in any possible form and function imaginable. Few are at all
beneficial to public health.
For example, corn,
one of the monoculture crops subsidized in the bill, is used to be
processed into a colorful variety of synthetic substances used
abundantly in almost all foods found in the grocery store—processed
foods. Pick up a box of almost anything and read the nutritional
information: dextrose, maltodextrin, high fructose corn syrup all come
from corn and are made possible by the Farm Bill.
Michael Pollan,
repeated best-selling author, Professor of Journalism at UC Berkley’s
Graduate School and Director of the Knight Program in Science and
Environmental Journalism spoke with Nourishlife.org about the 2012 Farm Bill.
“All the work is
going toward producing these so-called ‘commodity crops’ that are the
building blocks of fast food,” Pollan said.
Myplate.gov breaks
down the disturbing hierarchy of priorities. According to them, $33.1
billion is spent on commodity crops. The very same lineup that is
sprayed the most and boasts a robust lineup of GMO heavyweights: corn,
soybeans, cotton, rice and wheat. Contrast this with the meager $4.3
billion invested in the cultivation of “specialty crops.” These
“specialty” items that get the funding they deserve: fruits, vegetables
and nuts. Who needs those anyway?
“It is that key piece
of legislation passing every five years. It isn’t a bill just for
farmers; it really should be called the ‘Food Bill.’ It’s the rules for
the food system we all eat by,” Pollan said.
Politicians aren’t
going to stop favoring their Big Ag buddies to support organic and
local-friendly farming measures. American culture is super-saturated
with a backward logic. Walmarts, fast food, supersized everything!
Dirt-cheap convenience with a cost: morbidity, the demise of
independently operated business and agriculture and a twisted value
system.
People are out of
touch, there no longer is a frame of reference or moral compass in our
food polices. Cows are meant to eat grass—yes, real grass—and maybe even
walk around outside away from cesspools of waste. People eat food that
grows from the ground; food that hasn’t been doused in toxic chemicals
or with DNA that hasn’t been engineered to produce its own toxins.
The public is sedated
to how far we’ve fallen. The term “organic” didn’t exist a couple
generations back. Food was food; no bells and whistles. There wasn’t a
culture war between “conventional” crops or “organic” produce. It all
was food, grown from the ground. Plain and simple.
New York Times reporter Mark Bittman wrote about the cuts looking over the Farm Bill.
“Aiming at $23
billion in cuts, with around $14 billion coming from commodity
subsidies, $6 billion from conservation programs and the rest from
nutrition programs like food stamps, now more important than ever,” he
said.
With the U.S. in
recession and a budget crisis from both sides of the aisle, change in
food policy looks grim. A perpetuation of greedy motions contributing to
America’s obesity problem, farmers losing their properties, an empire
of processed foods and genetically manipulated crops is on the menu.
Unless politicians loosen their death grip on austerity measures, change
will be slow to get traction.
But there are change
agents in this fight. Food Democracy Now recently drafted a petition to
influence how to help the Farm Bill better serve farmers, consumers and
the environment, “I Want My Organic Farm Bill.”
The petition calls for a $25 billion plan to shift farming production
to ensure 75 percent of farms get U.S.D.A. certified organic by 2025;
have all children eat organic at school lunch programs by 2020; pass
“Beginning Farmer and Rancher Bill” to populate the land with a million
new farmers by 2020 and enact a cutoff for government funding for land
up to 1,000 acres to promote independent farming.
It’s a delicate time,
a time to remain informed and vigilant. Keep tabs on what happens with
the Farm Bill, it affects each and every one of us—children, family and
friends. What ends up on our plates, our produce aisles, kids lunch
menus at school. Decisions have lasting effects that reverberate for
generations. Let’s hope the gang in Washington makes the right ones.
Jessica Jewell – March 6, 2012 – NoOneHasToDieTomorrow
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