Daily Archives: 17 November 2009

The Language of Central Planning in Agriculture

The administration has not produced a full-fledged plan to meet that objective, but White House and Agriculture officials said in recent interviews that they are developing policies. Among the first is a decision to use $85 million freed up by Congress as part of a recent appropriations bill to experiment with ways to get food to more children during the summer, when subsidzed school breakfasts and lunches are unavailable. The government’s next significant forum for debating how to improve access to food is scheduled for the coming year, when Congress is to renew the country’s main law covering food and nutrition for children. Meantime, the White House has been convening frequent meetings with officials from several federal departments — including Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, in addition to Agriculture — that deal with youngsters’ well-being. (Read more from washingtonpost.com)

Here’s a crazy fucking idea: How about stop arresting people who want to grow and sell their own food???

–A state agent from the Ohio Department of Agriculture pressured the Stowerses to “sell” him a dozen eggs, then returned with a SWAT team to detain the family’s children and confiscate food supplies.

–The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

The CRIME of selling fresh milk

The word for this is protectionism:

Late last week, Maryland’s Dairy Industry Oversight and Advisory Council sent three recommendations to Governor Martin O’Malley. The council is charged with developing recommendations for the Governor on ways to improve the economic viability of Maryland’s struggling dairy sector.

The recommendations are:

* Fully fund the Maryland Dairy Farmer Emergency Trust Fund as soon as it’s fiscally possible;
* Establish uniform gross weight limit rules for raw milk haulers on state and federal highways;
* Not allow the sale of raw milk in the state.
(Read more from americanagriculturist.com)