After all these years, agriculture in America remains overwhelmingly dominated by family farms. A new report by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) shows not only just how dependent America is on family farms, but also how many are independent of government.
“Seventy-two percent…
“Explosive growth.” That’s how Washington state’s Agriculture Department describes what’s been happening in the raw-milk industry in the past 10 years. 
The numbers say it all. There were only six raw-milk dairies in the state in 2006. There are now 39 — more than double the number in 2013 when there were 18. All are…
If the USDA wants us to “eat healthy” by filling up half of our plates with fruits and vegetables, then why does the Senate’s proposed version of the 2012 Farm Bill continue to pour so many taxpayer dollars into programs that benefit farms that grow the crops so widely used in processed foods that some…
The subsidy discussion in the United States most often focuses on the impact of subsidizing certain crops, such as corn, wheat and soybeans, through the direct and counter-cyclical payments program to the exclusion of fruits and vegetables and therefore to the detriment of our national health (see, for example, The Fat of the Land: Do …
This week Congress begins hearings on the 2012 farm bill, the massive piece of legislation that gets updated about every five years and undergirds America’s entire food supply, but that few mortals can even understand. As nutrition professor Marion Nestle recently lamented, “no one has any idea what the farm bill is about. It’s …
Let this be the last word on the Iowa caucuses.
Believe me, no one is happier to have this quadrennial event over. For years, we’ve seen presidential candidates from both parties go to Iowa and make like pigs, rolling around in the mud or doing any other trick to endear themselves with the Hawkeye caucuses. …
There has been a lot of talk recently about federal farm subsidies, including whether the Super Committee is going to cut them to aid in reducing the federal deficit; whether these subsidies are contributing to growing health problems; and, whether the government is being inconsistent in encouraging us to eat more fruits and vegetables…
Each year when Americans pay their taxes, part of that money feeds into subsidies for junk food ingredients; and hardly any of it goes toward fresh produce, according to a new report. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) Wednesday released “Apples to Twinkies,” a review of agricultural subsidies that shows that…
There is a zip code in a built up area of Colorado’s Front Range that contains only a post office for renting out boxes. The last time I checked about 60 of those box-holders had over the past few years received more than $2 million in various farm subsidies delivered to those boxes.
I find …
Pistachio growers are getting $500,000 from the federal government for an industry re-building campaign.
The subsidy is being channeled through the Fresno-based Western Pistachio Association (WPA) for a “re-building effort in light of the recent, nationwide voluntary recall of pistachios due to potential Salmonella contamination.”
WPA represents U.S. pistachio growers in 16 states, including California …
