Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled his agriculture
plan yesterday on the campaign trail in Iowa. The plan includes all
kinds of proposals that the Obama camp hopes will excite rural
Americans -- particularly those who reside in early-primary states.
Obama's ag plans include increasing funding to help farmers transition
to organic, reforming the USDA's crop-insurance program so it doesn't
penalize organic farmers, requiring country-of-origin labeling on meat
products, enforcing stricter pollution regulations for CAFOs
(concentrated animal-feeding operations), increasing use of ethanol and
other biofuels by requiring 60 billion gallons of biofuels in the
nation's fuel supply by 2030, and limiting subsidies to huge
agribusiness operations. "Too many family farmers are being squeezed as
big agribusiness take up larger shares of federal subsidies, takes up
more market share, manipulates prices and contracts, makes it harder
for family farmers to control how they run their own farms," Obama said.
sources:
The Associated Press
,
The Des Moines Register
straight to the plan:
Barack Obama's Rural Plan
see also, in Grist:
An interview with Barack Obama about his presidential platform on energy and the environment
see also, in Gristmill:
Thoughts and reactions on Obama's new energy proposal
Barack Obama Unveils Agriculture Plan
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Grist Magazine, Oct 17, 2007
Straight to the Source
