This is how I see it . . . pay for your taxes that partially subsidize farmers or (and believe me this would be a much better alternative for my life now), allow for a free market where the cost of production agriculture is paid for the true value of the commodity. Problem with this – Americans have no idea how much that would cost them and would be flabbergasted if they had to pay for the true cost of their food!

for example:
- in the post-WWII McCarthy-J. Edgar Hoover days, the politically-contrived ‘red scare’ led to the accusations/trials/imprisonments that ruined thousands of people’s lives for no true reason – right in our own supposedly non-fascist country! This rampage targeted people in government service, the arts, education, and union activists especially with a vengeance that was both unconstitutional and patently falsely-based. The trial verdicts were later overturned for most due to the unconstitutionality issue, but all it took was ‘the accusation’ to propel a cascade of media lies, community rejection, loss of employment, etc. If you ever wrote or spoke words that had suggested any kind of displeasure or disagreement with the U.S. government, you were potentially a target of these insane committees to determine “Americanism” and, of course, of the FBI.
Can you imagine living under the fear of being targeted – and how that would lead to mass abandonment of integrity & honesty in order to ’save’ oneself?

Thinking that could never happen again? Just take a gander at the Bush Legacy and the civil liberties removed under the threat of terrorism. Fear mongering was rampant, scientific integrity and independence was threatened and stolen, and we as a nation were (are) once again polarized by the followers’ belief that ‘if you aren’t with us, you are against us’ – this is living in fear… this is NOT freedom of speech, thought, written word, or anything else

Constant ‘the world is ending’ commentary against the current administration is not only unfair, but also highly hypocritical by the ‘King George-ites’ Mistakes will be made, no government is perfect…but extremism on either end of the political scale is devastating to the common good. The fact that opinion and belief that is not the same as what might be government-sanctioned currently is not targeted as “un-American” or “dangerous” by the current government is a good thing.

I am pretty much thinking that you still can eat whatever food you want – happy gorging!
By the way, my dad is an award-winning PA farmer, definitely contributing to the ‘envy of the world status’ of U.S. agriculture! In order to keep up the good work, and at 74 yrs of age, he has had to actually try to eat a healthy diet – he chose that all by himself and probably isn’t all that interested in Twinkies.

That’s a good point on the electoral process. Hopefully as people become more engaged in having healthy school lunches and more fruits and vegetables available to their kids in the face of an obesity epidemic, or seeing skyrocketing health care costs and conservation lands being plowed under for more corn, they will make it an issue at the ballot box.

However, voters don’t get much input into who sits on the Ag committees, which are filled with members representing the most heavily subsidized districts and states — in effect the subsidized ensuring more subsidies.

Also, individual citizens lack the financial power to hire top lobbyists, make lucrative campaign contributions and blanket the airwaves with deceptive ads.

When our tax dollars bankroll the continued consolidation of the farm sector and fund the production of only five commodity crops, then there is something wrong. Talk about having something pushed down your throat.

NCGA Response:

Actually, Americans do have a choice. They make it every election day. They can choose to support candidates who would carry out the reforms they want. And Americans don’t appear to be as upset about whether government should support farmers as certain special interests want them to be.

When the crazy food activists have accomplished their goals, maybe someone will sue them to bring back Twinkees and Happy Meals so they can get some variety to their nuts and berries.