Michael Pollan on the Farm Bill

Michael Pollan has written a great article for the NY Times about why we all should care about the Farm Bill.  I have to admit to being overwhelmed by the ins and outs of the 2007 Farm Bill and not paying as much attention to it as I should be.  This article has given me the push to finally commit to seeing how I can help ensure that my farmers are appropriately represented by this bill.

Anyone have good "must read" links for those of us looking to find out more about the Farm Bill and what we can do? 

"You are what you Grow", NYT Link
MichaelPollan.com article text (for when the NYT free archive link runs out)

Comments

[Tea]

I enjoyed it too (was I the only one who was shocked that MP wrote an article only three pages long?). I'm hoping he does a follow up, now that he's explained why people should care, that would go more indepth into the specifics of the farm bill. Interesting stuff.

[Marc]

This is a longer than usual comment -- the Farm Bill is one of my hot buttons.

For a background on the Farm Bill, my post over at Eat Local Challenge is a pretty good place to start, as there are also links to other introductory documents. I especially like the Congressional Research Service reports for their straightforward presentation. They can get a little "wonky" because they are written for members of Congress and their staff, but it is not too bad. The reports are provided only to Congress, but since they are taxpayer-funded documents and not classified information, they frequently leak out of Congress. One good source of the CRS reports is Open CRS.

The recent book "Food Fight" by Daniel Imhoff has a pretty good coverage. However, be prepared for some tough going --- you are reading about a complex piece of legislation, not a year in the French countryside or a hunt for wild boar in Sonoma. Imhoff has appeared on various radio programs like KQED's California Report (link to a Bay Area Bites post) and KCRW's Good Food. MP3 downloads are available for each program.

This article from the Seattle Times is also worth a read, with varying opinions on the Farm Bill from Washington state farmers, chefs and activists.

If you want to wallow in wonkiness, subscribe to Keith Good's Farm Policy newsletter (farmpolicy.com). Written for professionals, it can be incomprehensible at times, but after a few weeks you'll learn most of the acronyms and know what sub-headings you can ignore (for me it's anything containing "Doha").

Reading The Ethicurean on a daily basis is also a good idea, as the daily digest often contains Farm Bill items. I write there under the blog-name Mental Masala and will be spending a lot of time on Farm Bill issues.

[Expat Chef]

I found some good information over at the environmental defense fund as well as a quick link to send your representative a letter. You don't even have to know who your representative is ... many people don't. I will check out the post over at ELC, and did read MP's article in the Times. Thanks!