[Marxism] A Food Agenda for Obama

[Greg McDonald]

(More good ideas down the rabbit-hole)

Published on Friday, December 26, 2008 by The Christian Science Monitor
A Food Agenda for Obama

by Christopher Cook

San Francisco - Within hours of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's  
nomination last week as Agriculture secretary, websites were humming  
with well-documented critiques of his affinity for genetically  
engineered crops, agribusiness giant Monsanto, heavily polluting  
factory farms, and other Big Farm interests.

Some critics expressed outrage, others surprise, especially since  
they had mounted a vigorous, 55,000-plus strong online petition to  
persuade President-elect Barack Obama to nominate someone more  
progressive who would promote sustainable food and farming.

The need for sweeping change could not be clearer when it comes to  
our food: At taxpayer expense, current policy subsidizes large  
corporate farms and destructive industrial agriculture, which rob the  
countryside of economic diversity and precious environmental  
resources, such as water and topsoil.

These same subsidies, and anemic regulatory enforcement, encourage an  
increasingly monopolized food system, and a "cheap food" policy that  
lards us with fatty, processed foods - the cost of which is  
ultimately dear, more than $100 billion annually for obesity and diet- 
related diseases. Today's food system also generates a sizable  
portion of America's greenhouse gases, and rests on fast-dwindling  
and volatile oil supplies.

Now is the time for something different - change we can eat.

As Mr. Obama weighs a massive stimulus package, he should include new  
funding streams that promote sustainable food - to build up  
alternatives such as farmer's markets, local "foodshed" programs that  
promote consumption of local produce, and farm-to-institution  
projects that encourage schools, hospitals, and other large buyers to  
purchase local organic foods when possible.

The change we need in food is as urgent as any we face - changes that  
affect national health, energy security, global warming, and more.  
Here, then, is a not-so-modest nine-point platform for food reform,  
some of which could be included in Obama's stimulus package. Other  
elements may require a lengthier policy push:

1. New public investments targeting sustainable agriculture, defined  
as organic, small- to mid-sized, diversified farming.

2. New investments in local/regional food networks and foodsheds - to  
help build up the connections between farmers and consumers, to open  
up and expand new markets for organic farmers and those considering  
the transition; for more farmer's markets and food stores that  
feature local produce.

3. A moratorium on agribusiness mergers, and strenuous antitrust  
provisions and enforcement to protect what little is left of  
diversity in the food economy.

4. A moratorium on all new genetically modified (GMO) products, and  
an expansion of existing ones, and appointment of a blue-ribbon panel/ 
commission to assess the impact of GMO foods on our environment and  
our health.

5. A moratorium on - and gradual phasing out of - concentrated animal  
feeding operations, aka factory farms, which are among the nation's  
top polluters of water and air, and breeders of widespread and  
virulent bacterial strains.

6. Dramatically expanded regulatory enforcement and staffing in the  
US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration to  
protect food safety and meat industry labor and environmental practices.

7. Slowing the hazardously fast meatpacking (and poultry) assembly  
line, to protect workers and consumers.

8. Incentives for small-scale urban, suburban, and rural farming  
ventures oriented toward diversified local food systems.

9. Bold public investment in a raft of public awareness campaigns  
that build support, and expand markets and demand, for sustainable  
alternatives such as urban agriculture and gardening, and reducing  
fast-food consumption.

10. Fill in the blank, and send me your thoughts at  
www.christopherdcook.com.

Food is a vital cornerstone of both individual life and civil  
society, and our current system is making us fatter, churning out  
greenhouse gases, and abusing workers and animals.

With a new administration elected on a "change" agenda, it's a timely  
moment to press for the most basic change of all: change in the food  
that ends up on our plates and in our bodies.