"Overhauling the Farm Bill: Political Wedge Issues Slowing Reform"

"The Farm Bill is the Olympics of U.S. food and agriculture policy. Every five years or so this important legislation comes up for renewal and the games begin. The federal government awards medals in the form of billion-dollar budgets that will determine what foods we eat and how we grow them. The current Farm Bill is set to expire on September 30, 2012, and the debate over who will dominate the food system is well underway."

"Farm Bill 101 is a three-part series adapted from the recent update of Food Fight: The Citizen's Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill and is designed to unravel what is at stake in this vital legislation.

It would be naïve to imagine that the Farm Bill will be radically overhauled in 2012, or during any single negotiation cycle. Considering everything at stake -- our health, our food, our environment -- one might think that the forces opposing corporate industrial food and farming (conservationists, family farm advocates, anti-hunger groups) could constitute a united front for change. But more often than not, reform groups have won important concessions for their own narrow interests, which only makes an unsatisfactory system slightly less bad.

Granted, reformers are swimming against a strong tide. The agribusiness and food industry lobbies are unconstrained, farm states wield massive power, and entitlement programs are too entrenched. One resource economist described Farm Bill negotiations as a "fully rigged" game.

But the Farm Bill has undergone true seismic changes three times in the last 80 years, and it could do so again."

Daniel Imhoff reports for the Atlantic March 20, 2012.

SEE ALSO:

"Overhauling the Farm Bill: Planting for the Future With Perennials" (Atalantic)

"Overhauling the Farm Bill: The Real Beneficiaries of Subsidies" (Atlantic)