The debate about the farm bill is mostly about Snap and rightly so. It is one of the last vestiges of the welfare state that the Republicans have battled successfully to destroy for forty years. Snap accounts for 75% of the $860 billion farm bill budget. There is a growing, popular movement that we are part of that wants healthy food but big ag by design overproduces corn and milk and soy and wheat and sugar and are desperate to continue because they are deeply invested. The progressives and visionaries have moved beyond just complaining about a harmful system, we are visualizing a new way and putting science to work to prove it. We are no longer hippies that "believe" in organic vegetables, but have matured to conclusively prove that action to repair the harm is imperative and and not only possible but doable. However governmental policy support for these better practises in the farm bill are minuscule (and shrinking) compared to the rest of ag support policy. The result of years of official policy is so much milk and so much corn that we have to have trade wars to force it on the rest of the world. We have to put corn syrup in everything. We have to include extra cheese in the crust of unhealthy frozen pizza just to get rid of the excess milk. The list of unhealthy food in markets that is a direct result of policy is endless and growing despite our brilliant new (and not so new) ideas.
The fight over the safety net program of SNAP has really dominated the discussion, even justifiably. And it’s also the biggest expenditure under this bill, by a huge margin; it’s like 75 to 80 percent of the spending. But lots and lots and lots of things that impact the way our food system operates come from the Farm Bill. I think if you’re not involved in farming, people don’t realize the extent to which the government is involved in this industry, in this marketplace.
In conclusion (realistically) the snap program and supports for farmers markets that helps people get food does not directly or sufficiently help get rid of the ag surplus so it is in fact a logical fight for republicans that want to end welfare and all other good but competing programs. The writing is on the wall. Snap will end if not in this bill then by a thousand cuts. Competing memes for a better way forward for real food and sustainable farms, healthy children and solving the problem of degenerative diseases such as diabetes, largely caused by diet, not to mention the survival of the planet will also be expunged from this bill,if not today the over the next 7 years as government/corporate policy continues to diverge in the extreme from the interests of the people.
You can listen to the interview here
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