Since my last post was about the one acre farm, I am not posting for Framing Friday but decided instead to provide a recap on the Farm Bill which, as you might remember started life as the Farm Bill 2012, had some near death experiences, spent some time as a zombie and had now been restored to life as the Farm Bill 2014.
It is important to remember that given this disastrous past, it is something of an achievement that the bill finally got passed, at all. Sad commentary on our times! And, the news is not all bad. Yes, there have been cuts on conservation spending and food stamps but direct payments have been replaced by an extended crop insurance program (there will be no more “over the dairy cliff” scares) , a plan to double food stamps when used at farmer’s markets and investment in renewable energy, research, specialty crops, to name a few.
Hopefully, the good things will take root and give a good foundation to agricultural policy.
Here are some useful links:
http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/2014-farm-bill-by-numbers/
http://civileats.com/2014/01/31/the-new-farm-bill-the-good-the-bad-and-the-wait-and-see/
Thought + Food 