Free Republic

Celebrity farmer Joel Salatin, known to many from Michael Pollan’s best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, was one of the most influential figures in the local food movement. So it was a blow to many of his fans when his history of appallingly racist remarks and bigotry toward people of color became public knowledge. After an ongoing social media dispute, Mother Earth News, the go-to publication for devotees of the local and sustainable, cut all ties with Salatin in 2020. To me, the revelation of Salatin’s bigotry was not surprising. I’ve been involved in the local food movement as an eco-grower...

Did you know that the tomato is a fruit? It actually is, you know. It certainly does not taste like one today. Though, it really used to. Tomatoes used to be sweet and delicious. That is, until the 1920’s in the United States. What in the world was going on then? All that damned “Progressivism” and trying to change America into a utopia ruled by a benevolent wealthy class. Nonsense. Oh, yes. They implemented the Federal income tax, and they banned alcohol and did all kinds of things (like giving the right to vote to woman) to turn the world...

Two professors from San Diego State University claim in a new book that farmers’ markets in urban areas are weed-like “white spaces” responsible for oppression. Pascale Joassart-Marcelli and Fernando J Bosco are part of an anthology released this month titled “Just Green Enough.” The work, published by Routledge, claims there is a correlation between the “whiteness of farmers’ markets” and gentrification. “Farmers’ markets are often white spaces where the food consumption habits of white people are normalized,” the SDSU professors write, the education watchdog Campus Reform reported Wednesday.

In a blog posted on Friday on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website, the department boasts that food stamp spending at U.S. farmers markets has increased “nearly six-fold” since 2008. “National SNAP redemptions at those outlets totaled $18.8 million during fiscal year 2014 (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30), a nearly six-fold increase since 2008,” the blog states, calling the increase “a win-win for all.” (SNAP is the acronym for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food stamp program.) […] Calling food stamp payment at farmers markets a “top priority” for the USDA, the department is providing free wireless equipment to...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending $4 million to increase the use of food stamps at farmers markets, claiming it is beneficial to the economy. As a record one-out-of-five households are on the benefit, the USDA says allowing food stamp use at farmers markets is a “win-win-win situation.” … The $4-million outreach is part of a two-year project that expires Sept. 20, 2013. With the funds, farmers markets can purchase equipment to accept EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards and wireless access in order to operate the equipment. Already, there are 2,091 farmers markets that accept food stamps, as...

How to stop them? Generate Huge Opposition and GROW it by dissemination! We are pleased to say that about 16 health freedom and consumer groups have followed our lead and taken p this battle. That is wonderful. Our momentum and leadership are what you, and the other groups, rely on. Our numbers are what the decision-makers respond to ...http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/cat=4

Your humble correspondent loves farmers markets. What's not to like? Great food at low prices. Plus it is a great way to sample the local produce at roadside stands while travelling around the country. Sadly farmers markets may soon become a thing of the past if a congressional bill, H.R. 875, is passed. According to Shepard on Politics and Policy, this bill, if enacted into law, "would essentially outlaw family farms in the United States." Unlike what is now congressional practice, Shepard actually reviewed H.R. 875 and here is his analysis of what he found: Under a heading described as...