How many of you eat cotton, corn, rice, wheat or soybeans, knowingly? How about milk, cheese, peanuts and sugar? No? If you haven't been paying attention to the Farm Bill (What are you talking about, Cato?), then you need to.
I live in wine-soaked, fun-in-the-sun land -- THE destination spot for foodies -- Napa, California. I know everything about food. I drink and eat to live. My delicate palate and sense of taste -- both literal and figurative -- require only the finest wild foods on the planet, but that food is diminishing according to the Audubon Society and there is something that we can all do about it. Knowing about where your food comes from and talking about the Farm Bill with your pals can help.
A case in point, take my Christmas dinner preparations for the year 2006: The menu called for quail, well we can't all order from Cavendish Farms when we need our birds to be fresh and succulent. Personally, I rely on my friend Porkpie out in Carlisle, Iowa to send me a bobwhite for my Christmas dinner. But this year I got the call telling me there were none to be found! This is not right. Where was my sauteed breast of bobwhite going to come from and how would I round out my menu of Jambonnette en Crepinette, polenta, sunny side-up quail egg, roquette salad and ham vinaigrette? I quickly had to make plans for an alternative and my guests were disappointed.
What gives? Where has my delicious bobwhite gone?
With a more than 82 percent decline in populations over the past 40 years, the bobwhite is dying because of large scale agriculture among other things. It's that simple. The Farm Bill encourages farmers to set aside marginal lands for wildlife habitat and provides incentives. This must be supported or our hunting will be severely limited as will our palates.
Want a solution to tainted pet foods that have poisoned many of us and caused our 'bankers' to search for alternative sources of foods, such as -- HORRORS -- cooking for us? The Farm Bill may be the answer to our prayers. The country of origin labeling or COOL act, which was passed five years ago and has never been enforced, is a part of this year's farm bill. This act requires that meat, seafood, fruits, vegetables and peanuts (but not other nuts) be labeled for consumers so they can choose to buy potentially tainted foods or not. And while this does not specifically target pet foods, I believe if it is passed for the human consumer population, the outcry by our 'campaign managers' will force Congress to quickly act to include pet foods under this umbrella. Yet another reason to write your senator to make sure she/he supports this provision in the Farm Bill.
When you decant a particularly fine wine -- say a Stony Hill Vineyard Riesling -- one of my summer treats -- and attack a Triple Cream Brie, do you wonder why these foods cost sooooo much and Cheetos are so cheap? It's the Farm Bill.
Begun in the 1930s to bolster farmers after the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years when a quarter of the American population lived on the farm, over the years, the Farm Bill exploded to subsidize farmers who grew commodities like corn, cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat, but did little if nothing for those farmers who grew fruits and vegetables. You may not realize it, but most of our junk foods are made from these commodity-based products (high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats) that are now cheap thanks to our government support.
These high-calorie and nutritionally deficient foods are killing our 'owners.' The high level of obesity currently seen in the United States is the direct result of the nearly 25 percent decline in the cost of fat and sugary foods from 1985 to the year 2000. During this same time period, the cost of fruits and vegetables grew by almost 40 percent. Instead of a Farm Bill that is really a junk food bill, we need a Food Bill that subsidizes the growth of healthy foods for our 'life-long companions.' I want my 'girl' to live forever so that I can get my slow-roasted Berkshire pork shoulder with farrotto and fresh figs once a week or at least know the origin of the contents of my next can of Friskies Mixed Grill.
I exhort you to write your Senators and let them know that wild birds, the COOL act and a Food Bill, rather than a junk food bill, is what you want to see them deliver. I promise, if I am elected president, wild birds will proliferate under my guidance. There will be a bird in every kitty pot! I will work to see that those of you who prefer to remain indoors and take your food from the shelf have completely safe to eat -- because there is a label telling you where your food is coming from. I will put in place a food sustainability program. The price of fresh fruits and vegetables will be affordable and farming practices will support healthy human populations, so that felines everywhere will be able to have a human to rely on for everything. I exhort you to write your Senator about the Farm Bill here.




