Good Green News

Organic cornfield at Eatwell Farm, Dixon, Calif. (www.eatwell.com). Photo: Erik Kolderup.

I got an email today from my friend and former colleague Liz Muller. She’s spreading the word about Food Democracy Now’s petition asking President-elect Obama to choose a Secretary of Agriculture who will lead this country toward saner agriculture and food policies.

Liz and I worked together years ago on environmental programs and policies at Gap Inc. She’s now an environmental consultant (www.lizmuller.com) helping organizations develop more sustainable products and operations; improving agricultural practices in developing nations is one of her many areas of expertise.

I’ve copied her email (with her permission) in this post — it’s good summary of why we need a progressive reformer at the helm of the Agriculture Department.

“Dear Friends,

As you know, I don’t send requests on political issues. However, I feel that most of you would agree that the US farm subsidies no longer make sense and I wanted to share the below website in case you would like to encourage President-elect Obama to select someone who can begin to reform agriculture subsidies as the head of Department of Agriculture.

Let me state that I am not opposed to large-scale farming when it is done responsibly and when it makes financial sense. But the current farm subsidies not only cost US taxpayers an obscene amount of money  — that we can no longer afford, they are contributing to country’s obesity problem by allowing us to eat an abundance of cheap food and sugar substitutes (corn syrup) at a time when most people can’t afford health care. These subsidies also have negative impacts — directly or indirectly — on the health of our soil and waterways as well as the ability of local, small-scale farmers in the US and abroad to merely eke out a living.

If you would like to join me in asking our President-elect Obama to appoint someone who can begin to reform our agriculture subsidies, please consider signing the petition at http://www.fooddemocracynow.org

Thank you,
Liz”

Eatwell Farm

You can read more about this issue and the Food Democracy Now petition in Nicholas Kristof’s column in the December 10 edition of the New York Times.