2012 Farm Bill: Healthy Food Not Corporate Welfare!
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Stop the Secret Farm Bill!
Congress sets the nation's farm policy through the $90 billion Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill includes many important hunger-prevention and environmental conservation programs, but it is also packed with corporate welfare schemes that support filthy factory farms and pesticide-drenched genetically modified crops.
The Farm Bill is why junk food is cheap and consumers have to pay a premium for organic. It's why obesity, diet-related disease and health care costs are skyrocketing. It's why food production is responsible for a third of greenhouse gas emissions and farm run-off is fouling drinking water and creating dead-zones in the ocean.
The current Farm Bill is set to expire and be re-written in 2012. We have an opportunity now to press Congress to cut farm subsidies to anyone with an average income over $1 million and enact agriculture reforms that would create jobs, clean up the environment, strengthen sustainable local food systems and make healthy food available to everyone.
That is, if the budget-slashing Super Committee doesn't high-jack the process and write a Secret Farm Bill to protect the interests of companies like Monsanto, Cargill, and ADM.
The Big Ag lobby suffered a shock when an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to cut farm subsidies to anyone with an average income over $1 million cleared the Senate by a vote of 84-15. This proposal has yet to become law, but it is evidence that the momentum is not in Big Ag's favor. Congress is ready to vote for a fairer Farm Bill in 2012 when the current law expires. Knowing that, corporate lobbyists working for the 1% are trying to prevent any more votes to cut corporate welfare.
Big Ag's current strategy is for Congress not to vote on a new Farm Bill at all. They'd rather have the Super Committee, set to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the federal debt in November, shape the bill behind closed doors. Their idea is for the Super Committee to cut $23 billion over 10 years, mostly from conservation and nutrition programs that help the hungry, family farmers and sustainable agriculture, rather than save more money by adopting the White House proposal to save $50 billion over 10 years by ending all direct payments, most of which go to mega farms growing crops for polluting factory farms and unhealthy junk food.
Ag Committee Chairmen and Super Committee members are currently working on a secret Farm Bill that by all accounts will favor Big Ag over family-scale organic farmers and the swelling ranks of those who rely on food stamps and school lunch programs to survive the continuing economic crisis.
TAKE ACTION! Stop the Secret Farm Bill and Demand Healthy Food & Farming, not Corporate Welfare!
Trailer: Food, Inc.
National Organic Farming Associations
- The New Farm
- National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
- AgWeb: The Ultimate Agricultural Research Directory
- Guide to Organic & Sustainable Veg. Production
- Acres USA
- Ecological Farming Association
- Organic Farming Research Foundation
- Northeast Organic Farming Association
- Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Assn.
- Sustainable Ag. Research & Education
- Cyber-Help for Organic Farmers: Rural Capacity Building Through Organic Agriculture
- Midwest Organic & Sustainable Educ. Service
- Organic Ag Info / Consortium
- Organic e-Prints
- CANADA
- ACORN - The Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network
- InfoBasket: BC Ministry of Ag., Food & Fisheries
- Ecological Agriculture Projects
- Organic Agriculture Center of Canada
State Organic
Farming Associations
- AL Sustainable Ag.e Network
- CA Certified Organic Farmers
- CAFF Community Alliance with Family Farmers
- CO Organic Producers Assn.
- Connecticut NOFA
- FL Organic Growers & Consumers
- Georgia Organics
- HI Organic Farming Assn.
- Hoosier Organic Marketing Education
- Louisiana Organic Association
- Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Assn.
- Maryland Certified Growers Co-op
- NOFA/Massachusetts
- MI Organic Food & Farm Alliance
- Organic Growers of Michigan
- Minnesota Organic Farmers' Information Exchange
- The Land Stewardship Project
- The Alliance for Sustainability - MN
- Missouri Organic Association
- Missouri Alternatives Center
- Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society
- NOFA/New Hampshire
- NOFA/New Jersey
- NOFA/New York
- Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
- OH Ecological Food & Farm Assn.
- Oregon Tilth, Inc.
- The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture
- Pennsylvania Certified Organic
- Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture
- NOFA/Rhode Island
- Texas Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association
- NOFA Vermont
- Virginia Association for Biological Farming
- Seattle Tilth
RESOURCES
- Ag Subsidies Pay for 19 Twinkies per Taxpayer, But Only a Quarter of an Apple Apiece
- Rep. Earl Blumenauer calls for the end of direct farm subsidies
- VIDEO: What do Obama and Glenn Beck agree on? Cutting subsidies to Big Agribusiness.
- Food and Water Watch's Factory Farm Map
- Environmental Working Group Farm Subsidies Database
- State Organic Farming Associations & Networks
- Rodale Institute's Organic Transition Course
- The Organic Insider
- Mother Earth News
- Local Harvest
- Organic Volunteers
- OFRF Organic Farming Research Foundation
- RAFI USA - Rural Advancement Foundation
- Noah's Ark Organic Farmer
- Biodynamic Association of America
- Food System Creators Cafe
- The Greenhorns Guide for Beginning Farmers
UK - Europe
International
- Organic Trade Services
- International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
- Organic Agriculture at FAO (Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
Books & ARticles
Farm News
- 02/02/12 - School Lunchrooms Put Planet and Kids at Risk
- 02/02/12 - Maine Voices: It's Time to Rebuild a System that Supports Local Food and Farms
- 02/02/12 - Informational Video on Subsidies for Biotech and Big Ag
- 02/02/12 - Kentucky Food Freedom Takes on Big Ag in S.B. 47
- 02/01/12 - Harvard Law School Food Law Society Hosting a Raw Milk Debate
- 02/01/12 - Calif. 'Downer' Pig Ban Blocked by Supreme Court
- 02/01/12 - Organic Farmers Challenge Monsanto in Landmark Suit
- 01/31/12 - New Agtivist: Teaching Soldiers to Farm
- 01/30/12 - PH Officials Look Forward to Mass Adoption of GMOs
- 01/30/12 - Antibiotics Prove Powerless as Super-Germs Spread
- 01/28/12 - Bee Colony Collapse Disorder May Affect Our Food Supply
- 01/25/12 - Why Does Agriculture Keep Getting a Climate Pass?
- 01/25/12 - Can Healthy Food Come from Unhealthy Workers?
- 01/23/12 - Beekeepers Worry about Threats to Hives, Including Chemicals
- 01/20/12 - Organic Group Questions Need to Produce More Food
- 01/19/12 - A Farm Bill in 2012? Don't Hold Your Breath
- 01/18/12 - Scholarly Standards at Risk: Protect Integrity in Academic Publishing
- 01/18/12 - Organic Farmers Crop-Insurance Costs Spoil Growth of $27 Billion Market
- 01/15/12 - Scientists Link Mass Death of British Bees to Farm Pesticides
- 01/14/12 - Raw Milk Update: Interview with Mark McAfee
- 01/13/12 - 10 Reasons Why even Democrats, Liberals and Progressives Are Choosing Ron Paul over Obama
- 01/13/12 - Uncle Sam and Ethanol
- 01/12/12 - Meating Halfway: Americans Opt for Less
- 01/11/12 - New FDA Numbers Reveal Food Animals Consume Lion's Share of Antibiotics
- 01/11/12 - A Fork in the Road for Slow Food
- 01/11/12 - USDA Quietly Approves More GE Corn, Considering Key Agent Orange Ingredient
- 01/11/12 - Can You Imagine a World Without Antibiotics?
- 01/10/12 - Why the 2012 Farm Bill Is a Climate Bill
- 01/09/12 - Voting with Our Farms and Forks against Climate Catastrophe
- 01/06/12 - "Zombie" Fly Parasite Killing Honeybees
- 01/05/12 - Deadly Parasite Turns Bay Area Honeybees into Zombie Slaves
- 01/05/12 - What the Times' Organic Tomato Story Missed: Golf Courses
- 01/04/12 - Can We Expect an Organic Milk Shortage in 2012?
- 01/03/12 - Walmart Is Taking over Our Food System
- 12/30/11 - Will the Butterball Raid Yield Any Real Results?
- 12/30/11 - Can the 2012 Farm Bill Protect the Ogallala Aquifer?
- 12/29/11 - FDA Draws Criticism After U-turn on Antibiotics in Animal Feed
- 12/29/11 - Genetically Engineered Bt Corn Losing Effectiveness
- 12/28/11 - The Bad Food News of 2011
- 12/28/11 - Burger Chains Ditch "Pink Slime," then Whine
- 12/27/11 - Indiana Sheriff Intervenes Against Feds in Raw Milk Case
- 12/21/11 - Oh, SNAP! Grow Gardens with Food Stamps
- 12/21/11 - Tell the EPA to Ban Glyphosate!
- 12/20/11 - FBI Says Activists Who Investigate Factory Farms Can Be Prosecuted as Terrorists
- 12/20/11 - Willie Nelson: Occupy the Food System
- 12/19/11 - FDA Escalates War Against Amish Dairy Farmers
- 12/16/11 - Video: Farmers March with Occupy Wall Street, Sowing the Seeds of Hope and Democracy
- 12/15/11 - Whippersnappers Unite: Young Farmers Work to Change 2012 Farm Bill
- 12/14/11 - Stop USDA's Plans for Monsanto to Police Itself!
- 12/14/11 - Tell Ag Secretary Vilsack to Heed Dr. Huber's Warning!
- 12/14/11 - Time for a Food and Farm Bill that Helps Farmers and Consumers
- 12/12/11 - French Farmer Sues Monsanto after Inhaling Weedkiller
- 12/12/11 - Raw Milk Fight Is on From Amish Farms to Co-ops
- 12/09/11 - Eating at Fast Food Restaurants May Lead to Food Poisoning
- 12/07/11 - Farmer Makes Plea Deal over Fake Organic Crop
More Farm News Headlines
Organic Science News
- 04/26/11 - THE SCOOP - April 2011 Organic Center Newsletter
- 03/28/11 - Study: Organic Chicken Carries Significantly Lower Salmonella Risk
- 03/28/11 - Organic Farming Just as Productive as Conventional, and Better at Building Soil, Rodale Finds
- 03/23/11 - Organic Poultry Far Less Prone to Salmonella than Conventional, Study Finds
- 01/17/11 - Organic Milk is Less Fatty Than 'Ordinary' Milk
- 09/02/10 - The Berry Healthiest: How Organic Strawberries 'Are More Nutritious'
- 09/01/10 - Silver Nanoparticles Stop Sperm Stem Cell Growth
- 07/01/10 - Organic Farms Win at Potato Pest Control
- 05/17/10 - Research Links Pesticides With ADHD In Children
- 09/16/09 - Organic Milk Linked to Fewer Allergies Including Eczema and Asthma
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