Debra Eschmeyer’s Posts

• Old MacDonald had a farm bill

  The good, bad, and ugly in our national five-year agricultural plan 1

  Posted 1 year, 5 months ago

  We've all noticed higher grocery bills, but did you know Congress passed a $307 billion farm bill in late May that has a much bigger impact on what you will eat for dinner tonight than what you chose to place in the grocery cart?

  The farm bill has a hand in all that happens before the swallow. The bag of Tyson chicken wings (grain subsidies), gallon of Horizon Organic milk (forward contracting), and pound of Fuji apples (country of origin labeling) are all regulated in some fashion by this policy determining how our food is raised and who profits.

  But… Read More

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Debra Eschmeyer’s Recent Comments

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  Winds of change

  With Tom's timely question providing us with some semblance of power, my opinion is to celebrate the  two steps forward (CFP $, organic, livestock competition, etc.) and fight the urge to take two steps back with a veto.

  As I look out my window and see the delicious and diverse rows of spinach, peas, carrots, onions, beets, bok choy, and lettuce, the relatively small organic plot is an idyllic island surrounded by acres of newly planted GMO corn, wheat, and soybeans. Yesterday, a plane swooped over my farm repeatedly spraying my neighbor's wheat acres around me with a fungicide to protect the wheat from Fusarium Head Blight.  Unlucky for me, the wind was blowing in just the wrong direction that there is a high chance that fungicide also drifted over my five acres.

  It then rained...and rained. :)

  Thank you to all those that have kept up the good fight in the farm bill. Here's hoping the wind blows in the right direction for us all.

  Deb
  On How should sustainable-food advocates respond to the latest farm bill proposal? posted 1 year, 6 months ago 25 Responses

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  Eat What You Preach

  Senator Obama has a paragraph in his rural policy plan focused solely on Farm to School and how to get local healthy fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and whole grains into our school food systems while supporting the smaller farmers that need the direct market. I agree that all the candidates could use their platforms to raise awareness of getting our food system back on track. We need to create the opportunities for them...invite them to speak at Bus Boys & Poets in DC about food justice, a barn in rural Indiana about milk prices, and for dinner at an organic farm.  I know they get loads of invitations, but the more they receive from "green" collar jobs, the more they will listen.

  And thanks, Jim, for your comments...I always love reading your thoughts!On The candidates are overlooking the ultimate green-collar job posted 1 year, 6 months ago 5 Responses

• Click here to view comment in original post

  Eat What You Preach

  Senator Obama has a paragraph in his rural policy plan focused solely on Farm to School and how to get local healthy fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and whole grains into our school food systems while supporting the smaller farmers that need the direct market. I agree that all the candidates could use their platforms to raise awareness of getting our food system back on track. We need to create the opportunities for them...invite them to speak at Bus Boys & Poets in DC about food justice, a barn in rural Indiana about milk prices, and for dinner at an organic farm.  I know they get loads of invitations, but the more they receive from "green" collar jobs, the more they will listen.

  And thanks, Jim, for comments...I always love reading your thoughts!On The candidates are overlooking the ultimate green-collar job posted 1 year, 6 months ago 5 Responses

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  Sleeping with the enemy

  It would help if the American Dietetic Association didn't add ADA as a partner. How can we move past our kids drinking 10 teaspoons of sugar from every can of soda when organizations such as ADA join forces with them!

  From the ADA press release:

  CHICAGO -- The American Dietetic Association, the nation's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, announced March 1 that The Coca-Cola Company has become an ADA Partner in the Association's corporate relations sponsorship program. The program provides Partners a national platform via ADA events and programs with prominent access to key influencers, thought leaders and decision makers in the food and nutrition marketplace. On Coca-Cola and McD's top brands among teens, study says posted 1 year, 7 months ago 6 Responses