¡Join the fight!
House Ag Chair and King Corn lackey Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN7) is well-known in Minnesota for shooting his mouth off in the press. In the local/organic world, for example, he's often remembered for his quote to the Financial Times:
"For whatever reason, people are willing to pay two or three times as much for something that says 'organic' or 'local'. Far be it from me to understand what that's about, but that's reality. And if people are dumb enough to pay that much then hallelujah." Read more...
Final changes to H-2A agricultural guestworker program are out. This program, which covers just 2% of the farm workforce as a means to legitimize migrant labor in agriculture, has been in dire need of an overhaul for years, according to both pro-business and pro-migrant groups.
But these current revisions to the H-2A regulations are not pretty, according to Farmworker Justice: Read more...
Well, that was an amusing little local beer interlude...
Meanwhile, back at AgSec Speculation Central, we have this from the Des Moines Register today:
Here are updates on a few different stories worth keeping your eye on:
* Canda confirms 15th case of Mad Cow in its recent outbreak.
* Former Agriprocessors workers learn English while awaiting court dates.
Besides living in a foreign land without much knowledge of English, Klinkenberg said her students still are reeling from the raid. Many did not see their spouses and children for months. Other families have yet to reunite. Many still wear government-issued ankle bracelets that track their movements. Read more...
I'm still thinking about Michael Pollan's NY Times article, An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief, which I blogged about yesterday. Pollan's main thrust is that the next president could address three major "crises du jour" (energy independence, health care costs, and global warming) through a sane farm policy, which Pollan has long advocated calling "food policy." Read more...
No doubt about it, Michael Pollan is the man. He might even be The Man, at this point, a monolithic figure in the world of natural foods and alternative farming. Read more...
