|
One of the authors arguments may not be accurate. He states that the farm bill intentionally penalizes fruit and vegetable farmers for growing fruit and vegetables on acreages designated as, and paid subsidies for, corn, wheat, .... etc. My belief is that the agency does not have the man power to go to each field and accurately determine how many acres are in corn and how many acres are in fruit and vegetables and then do the calculation to determine the proper subsidy. The agency probably would like to look at a map and say, that property is corn, it is 160 acres (referred to as a quarter section) and then cut a check. While it may not be the best practice I'm not sure it was intentionall... I went to two farmers' markets today. I think it is cool to meet the people that have a hand in the food I eat. I bought some edible flowers (at a great price, frankly) and had a nice chat with the farmer. Next weekend I hope to visit the market with local cheeses. Woohoo for goat cheese! Edible flowers BNM? I've never heard of that? Are they good? I grow tons of food myself and home can everything from red raspberry jam to applesauce to peppers and I'm going to make blackberry juice with the berries I have frozen. I enjoy food preparation and enjoy eating it way too much but that's another story! I'm constantly having to diet.  Here is a nice list of edible flowers, Debby. I wouldn't eat a pile of them, but they are interesting in a salad, and they sure are pretty. Hm . . . how interesting. I've eaten "greens" plenty of times, but never an edible flower. It would be cool for a garnish though. As the price of oil and transport go up, food being distributed will cost too much for many of us. These markets, which are flourishing in Australia, can supply locals with cheap, healthy and tasty fruit and veges. If they are not legislated out, they will keep us all better off if weather changes and oil prices keep going crazy. The U.S. agriculture department doesn't go into the field anymore to check acreages--they use satellite pictures to verify--infrared or whatever to see what's in each field. If it looks suspicious--then a real person goes out on the ground. Thus, not as much manpower needed. I worked for the census bureau in 2000, it was obvious that our maps came from satellite photos. Download google earth and check out your zip code or any zip code to see just how revealing are these images. |
View the Top Clips from March 1, 2008
Embed This Clip In Your Site...
|
|||
|
|
||||
