Too early to think about 2012? Not really--Farm Bill discussion happening now.

Prior to 2008 our agricultural policies and practices were already recognized as problematic and in need of change. Farm Bill 2008 presented an opportunity of fix some things but resulted in more of the same. It turned out to be good for agribusiness and processed food, but came up seriously short for small farmers, communities, and real food. The next Farm Bill comes up for vote in 2012 so the House Committee on Agriculture is soliciting feedback and collecting information right now. Go to Slow Food USA for a bit of information and submit your comments to the HCA, if you choose.

The Food Bill is complicated and impacts our lives in ways I had never imagined. It sounds so pastoral and innocuous, but it is actually industrial and has had far reaching effects on everything from school lunch to the environment to African farmers. Author Daniel Imhoff demystifies it nicely in Food Fight: The Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill. If you want to read it for free ('cause you already paid for it with your taxes) a copy is available at the library. Take an insider tip and search the catalog by author to get around the faulty catalog record.

Here's what I submitted.  I put it together in about 5 minutes so it's brief, but cut and paste all you want.