Great article, Tom. Sometimes it feels like we are yelling into a black hole, but we can't give up. As for what the government can do now? We have to make it easier for people, particularly poor people, to access a healthier, more local food system. A consequence of government programs designed to help minority entreprenuers start businesses in underserved neighborhoods is a glut of fast food restaurants in those neighborhoods. Franchising and the stunning efficiency of the industrialized mega- food system has made the fast food restaurant the cheapest, easiest business to start and to maintain. For the eater the food is quick, cheap, and temporarily satisfying. The brand is instantly recognizable as something he knows, and the whole experience is reliably similar to the way it was last time. We have to find a way to counteract this reality.

Could the government find a way to stimulate the economic AND the dietary health of our inner cities? I think any economic stimulus should include, at a minimum, funds to help communities start urban farms. Farmers' markets are not enough. I think the way people view their neighborhood fundamentally changes when they see that it can provide nourishment where there was desolation. And not only should government get back in the business of running the school lunch program, but schools, wherever possible, should have students growing fruit and veggies right there on campus.

This is important stuff and the government needs to fork it over. So do we.

We need to transition more to vegetarianism and away from factory farms, more toward organic and biodynamic and away from chemicals and hormones and genetically engineered, we need to support whole foods and not subsidize corn and sugar, we need to support farmers markets and CSAs, more biodiversity and heirloom varieties, healthier school lunches as we decrease fast foods and other junk foods, we need to support the small and local, including community gardens, and not subsidize huge agro-business and McDonald's and their icky ilk.

Doing these things will help stimulate the economy as it stimulates our environment (reducing global warming and deforestation) and our health as well as our learning and productivity.

Keep the pressure on Obama and the Congress, for sure, but also do what you can to make positive personal changes. You voted for change in November; now vote with your dollars and your words.

Perhaps we should start by creatively using the tools the USDA already has for different goals.  For example, look at the Northeast Dairy Compact, which set a regional milk market policy for a region based on  "recognizing the cultural and economic benefits of a viable dairy industry in the region and facilitating the Constitutional rights of individual states to act collectively in order to regulate milk prices."

Can we make a similar argument for regional food compacts, using state constitutional rights and agricultural marketing rights gained in the New Deal?  Can we apply dairy market order law to other forms of food localization?  

I'm just throwing this out as a way for us to think about localization from a more national perspective.

Wow, two really great solutions to big problems! I'm an advocate of creative and sustainable rural development and have long thought that reviving local butchers and meat lockers as well as things like community canning centers and places to flash freeze fresh produce would be good ideas as they would cut down on transportation costs, allow for small-scale usage, and help with the storage issues that arise when one grows or buys produce locally and/or in-season.

As for the cooking-school-grad program (which I think should be called Cook for America!), I think it's a great idea. But there also need to be professionals trained in menu planning, budgeting, and nutrition in charge.

I think Michael Pollan is absolutely correct in pointing out that by addressing many of our issues with food, we can solve or alleviate other problems caused by or indirectly affected by our industrial agriculture. I also strongly believe that a new agricultural policy should focus on smaller and medium-sized family farms and reward them for efforts toward sustainability, while making it harder for large, conglomerate factory farms to survive (or at least bringing their prices up, particularly of processed foods, to reflect real costs!).

Thanks for another great article, Tom!

A few ideas:
Use some of the stimulus money to fully fund the Beginning Farmer & Rancher program of the USDA, which includes a myriad of programs aimed at strengthening and recruiting new farmers, including Individual Savings Accounts which encourages savings.
 Increase funding for the USDA Community Food Program, which usually gets about 80-85% more proposals submitted than there is funding.  CFPs inspire innovative food security projects and businesses in both urban and rural areas, providing healthier food options and economic development at the same time.
 Either through USDA Rural Development or through the Economic Development Administration, create a grant & loan program to build food and agricultural incubators in cities and in the country.  Business incubators have proven to create more sustainable businesses and employment opportunities.
 Dramatically expand the USDA Value-Added Producer Program to include more capital cost funding and include building needed food infrastructure such as abattoirs, butcher shops, cold-storage facilities, and the like.

Great ideas, Tom. We just can't afford to ignore our nation's food crisis. Everyone has to eat, and our food choices are reflected in the number of health problems we've developed, thus increasing healthcare spending, etc. It's all interconnected.

Change can also happen from the bottom up. With the help of the economic stimulus, funding for research and development of more sustainable farming and distribution methods should be a priority. In addition, local co-ops and CSA's would benefit from assistance, as large supermarket chains make it more difficult for them to compete. How about tax breaks for smaller, private food companies to provide more coupons to consumers? Healthier food is often more expensive, but coupons are hard to come by. I love your idea about bringing real kitchens and real cooks back to public schools. Funding programs that also educate parents and children on the whys and wherefores of healthy eating are also needed, however, if we're to expect them to actually eat healthier. Old habits die hard.

We can't count on the USDA or the Farm Bill to save us from undernourishment. The forces of evil agribusiness and chemical companies are very strong. Although we should never stop writing letters and signing petitions, we can do our part by returning to a simpler, healthier way of life. By growing our own food, supporting local co-ops, recycling, and learning how to cook and eat seasonally, we can live a life more in balance with nature, and still eat well.

I see a lot of good suggetions in the article and posts.  I attended the Practical Farmers of Iowa conference Friday and Saturday.  In the beginning farmer session, it was a nice suprise to see so many people interested in beginning a farming business.  And almost all want to raise good healthy food, from grass based dairies and beef farms to all types of horticultural crops.  In addition to processing, farmers need help in marketing direct to consumers through websites and product information development and through a cooperative retail outlet.  Federal loans and grants to help build cooperative food stores could really help promote farming.  In addition capital loans to farmers need to be available at low fixed interest rates for non-traditional food enterprises.  It is relatively easy to get a loan to raise a field of corn or soybeans which have price guarantees and subsidized revenue insurance.  If we want farmers to raise food, then we need to help them with the same capital tools from the Federal Government.  Governor Vilsack was a good administrator who did a good job governing Iowa given that he dealt with a difficult legislature.  He could make some important decisions for food production concerning rural economic development and how the USDA loan programs are administered to non-traditional farmers-I hope he does so.

Jerry Peckumn,farmer
Jefferson, Iowa

I'm a huge advocate of developing farm-to-schools programs as well as programs where kids grow their own. I've seen several really successful examples of this, especially when the growing is integrated into other programs such as math, history and science.

We are farmers in NY State and would love to see more support of this. I would love to see farm programs in our schools but a significant challenge is the weather! We grow vegetables and we do extend the season with greenhouses, but the demand, of course, is highest in cold months when it comes to schools and lowest when production is highest.

On another note about localization... Our neighbor is an organic dairy farmer and would like to keep his product local. So he offered to sell directly to schools. The red tape to make that happen made it impossible. He sells to Organic Valley instead and his milk travels long distances to his consumers.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not naysaying any localization effort and I'm continuting to try to figure it out. We live in a fairly depressed area and it is amazing to me how poorly folks around me eat even though most grew up in farming families. And even more amazing is how ignorant their kids are about where their food comes from. So I'm trying to be part of the change and the solution. I just get snagged on the weather and timing issues (as well as the red tape issues). So if anyone has ideas on how to bust through these challenge I welcome them!

Thanks! (And I appreciate all the good comments before mine!)

The new food system must be healthful, especially, can keep your fitness, this is very important.

This is an excellent article and an excellent idea. PLEASE submit it to change.gov for the "Citizen's Briefing Book". I am in no way affiliated with the site or with President-Elect Obama, except that I voted for him. I just love the website and the idea of the Citizen's Briefing Book, and would like to see it utilized by as many intelligent forward thinking people as possible.