From our friends at the ethicurean:
So what might we expect from an Obama administration when it comes to food policy? Maybe quite a bit. In his plan for rural America, he lays out a number of policy positions that are a departure from the status quo. Obama:
* Supports subsidies as a safety net, but calls for a $250,000 payment limitation and closing of loopholes, so that the program supports family farmers, not corporate agribusiness.
* Supports regulation of CAFOs (factory livestock operations).
* Wants to enforce anti-trust laws that so that smaller farmers can compete against large-scale meatpackers.
* Wants to cap the size of agricultural businesses that can receive government funds for environmental cleanup so that taxpayers don’t subsidize cleanup for large, polluting corporations.
* Supports Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for meat, a critical issue as we learn how widespread melamine contamination of animal feed is in countries like China.
* Wants to increase support for organic agriculture and local food systems by helping farmers with organic certification/compliance costs.
* Wants to provide incentives to encourage and support new farmers, land conservation, renewable energy on the farm, and microenterprise for farmers and other rural Americans.
* Calls for greater food safety surveillance and communications.
* Plans to encourage local foods in schools.
* Supports providing farmers with incentives that will prevent agricultural runoff.
for the rest of the article...
I am just happy to know that our President-elect possesses the word organic in his vocabulary!
Subscribe to events feed
Posts
