<![CDATA[Grist Feed: Ag Subsidies]]> http://www.grist.org/ Articles about Ag Subsidies from your friends at Grist en-us webmaster@grist.org (Grist) Wed, 25 Nov 2009 2:08:52 PDT Wed, 25 Nov 2009 2:08:52 PDT 2009, Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Pollan says health-care reform will fail unless we change the way we eat]]> http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-14-pollan-health-reform-will-fail-unless-we-change-eating-habits/ Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:21:05 -0700 Grist http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-14-pollan-health-reform-will-fail-unless-we-change-eating-habits/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.

Michael PollanNPR’s Guy Raz: What if health care is overhauled and it doesn’t change the American diet in any way?

Michael Pollan: We’ll go broke. If we don’t get a handle on these health care costs, the new system or the old system, we’ll go broke. And that’s why I think that really food is the elephant in the room when we’re talking about health care.

First in The New York Times last week and then on NPR this weekend, Michael Pollan made that point that if we want to fix our health-care system, we have to fix our food system.

From his op-ed in the Times:

[T]he fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. ...

That’s why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry. ...

Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There’s lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.

But even with that grim diagnosis, Pollan is optimistic about the future, arguing that if insurance companies are required to accept everyone, as called for by even weak health-reform legislation now in Congress, then the insurance industry will become a powerful ally in fight for better food and against the agribusiness lobby.

Grist’s Tom Laskawy is less optimistic, noting that the poor and the elderly—the most unhealthy groups—are likely to keep getting their health coverage from the government (Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA) and not the insurance industry.

Still, both Pollan and Laskawy are encouraged by New York City’s new anti-soda ad campaign, which Laskawy says is supported by health insurance companies.  Will we see more such public-health campaigns around the country, no matter what happens with health-care reform in Washington, D.C.?

Here’s an ad from NYC’s campaign:










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]]> <![CDATA[Using less fertilizer has no meaningful effect on yield]]> http://www.grist.org/article/Less-is-almost-as-much/ Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:17:28 -0700 Tom Laskawy http://www.grist.org/article/Less-is-almost-as-much/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[Is a payment cut real reform or just tweaking with the numbers?]]> http://www.grist.org/article/Spinning-ag-reform/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:13:27 -0800 Tom Laskawy http://www.grist.org/article/Spinning-ag-reform/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[The president’s budget hints at a coming battle over one kind of ag subsidy]]> http://www.grist.org/article/Switching-subsidies/ Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:37:53 -0800 Tom Laskawy http://www.grist.org/article/Switching-subsidies/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[Let’s mend, not end, ag subsidies]]> http://www.grist.org/article/notable-quotable191/ Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:09:33 -0800 Tom Laskawy http://www.grist.org/article/notable-quotable191/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[Until real middle-class wages start rising, we can’t end agricultural subsidies]]> http://www.grist.org/article/A-plague-of-Wal-Marts/ Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:16:36 -0800 Tom Laskawy http://www.grist.org/article/A-plague-of-Wal-Marts/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[Tufts study: Corn subsidies are a sop to HFCS industry, but don’t alone make bad food cheap]]> http://www.grist.org/article/Farm-subsidies-bitter-and-sweet/ Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:26:26 -0800 Tom Philpott http://www.grist.org/article/Farm-subsidies-bitter-and-sweet/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[Picking the battles will be key to reforming food policy]]> http://www.grist.org/article/Reforming-food-policy-Trade-and-agricultural-subsidies/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:04:29 -0800 Tom Laskawy http://www.grist.org/article/Reforming-food-policy-Trade-and-agricultural-subsidies/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[Beware of U.S. trade officials bearing gifts]]> http://www.grist.org/article/farm-subsidy-shenanigans/ Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:58:04 -0700 Tom Philpott http://www.grist.org/article/farm-subsidy-shenanigans/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[McCain thunders against ag subsidies, vows fealty to trade agenda]]> http://www.grist.org/article/the-maverick-speaks-on-agriculture/ Mon, 19 May 2008 17:26:58 -0700 Tom Philpott http://www.grist.org/article/the-maverick-speaks-on-agriculture/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.




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]]> <![CDATA[U.S. should back off from biofuels to bring down food prices, says Texas guv]]> http://www.grist.org/article/biofuels1/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:56:00 -0700 Grist http://www.grist.org/article/biofuels1/ Reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news, humor, and inspiration, visit www.grist.org.

Has the U.S. push for biofuels contributed to rising global food prices? Well, yes, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday: "There has been apparently some effect, unintended consequence from the alternative fuels effort." But, she hastened to add, "biofuels continue to be an extremely important piece of the alternative energy picture" and "we think that it is not a large part of the problem." Unconvinced, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has suggested that 50 percent of the federal renewable-fuels mandate be waived for a year to take some pressure off of food prices and the Texas economy. But his critics argue that oil prices are more to blame, and thus eliminating all or part of the renewable-fuels standard would hike gasoline prices higher while having only a minimal impact on food prices. All that to say: If you need us, we'll be scrounging for pennies on the sidewalk.




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