Big Ag and the College Kids
(With apologies to Garrison)
It's been a quiet week here in Lake Wildwood, out on the edge of suburbia. Wednesday is Farmer's Market day in our little town, and as Martha would say, "It's a good thing." It is, really, no joke. The cheese maker was there, the bread people, the nice lady who makes dog treats, the happy chickens lay good eggs folks, the honey dude, the local vineyard, the organic farmer with some killer peaches, and the funny, salty, ancient Frenchman who makes really awesome (Can't wait to put them in a Bloody Mary) spicy olives.
As we wandered, something was out of place in said market. A few vendors sprinkled among the "Real Farmers of Lake County" weren't artisans or farmers. They just "might could" have been part of "Big Food" or one of its MLM subsidiaries.
The militant mommies in mini-vans with designer-named children all flock to said stands. You know the type of stuff - simply mix with some from-the-grocer ingredients and voila! Dip! Salad! Dessert! Drinks! Neat-O! The mixes with a lot of salt, a lot of preservatives, are not-so-much home grown/right from the farm stuff.
Of course, most of us go the semi-home made route from time to time, and I am guilty of lusting after a certain MLM's beer bread. It just struck me as odd that these folks should be hawking their wares and looking for new "team members" at a Farmer's Market. There was another surprise; it was a "good thing."
A team of young college students were wandering about. They had clipboards. This was a good sign - or, as this is Lake County, IL a very bad (T-Party) sign. Said individuals put on their big student pants and were out doing something for We the People. Lo and behold these farm-raised kids were raising awareness about Big Food and our tax payer subsidies of it. Big Food, who is making our obesity problem worse by the fat and calorie laden crap they flood the marketplace with. Big Food who has lobbied long and hard to make the average kid's school lunch unhealthy and unsafe. (Think The Simpson's school lunch - but worse!)
The 'kids' told anyone who would put down their lemon squishy for a moment and listen, that Big Ag received a LOT of tax subsidies. Big Food contributes to obesity. One young do-gooder stated proudly that POTUS has subsidies to Big Ag on his "cut list." (and I am guessing FLOTUS had a LOT to do with that - she knows a thing or two about this problem, and I would not mess with FLOTUS!)
Some direct information from these kids and the non-profit (illinoispirg.org) public interest group:
- U.S. agriculture policy artificially makes poor eating habits an economically sensible choice
- Agriculture subsidies drive down the cost of commodity crops (including corn and soybeans) while prices for fruits and vegetables (grown with relatively little government support) have increased nearly 40% in the past 20 years.
- Low growing costs for corn and soybeans make sugars and fats some of the cheapest foods to produce.
- Big Ag has used its clout in Congress to put billions into taxpayer subsidies that make corn sugars, hydrogenated oils and other products tied to obesity cheaper.
- As Congress reviews the federal budget and reauthorizes the Farm Bill, we have the opportunity to cut these wasteful subsidies to big agribusiness—from Archer Daniels Midland to Monsanto
Good for the kids. Good for targeting people buying "good things" and supporting real agribusiness. Maybe the "honey guy" will help and send his bees to Congress to testify. Perhaps FLOTUS will go mano a mano with Big Ag and do some arm twisting for We the People. It could happen.
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