Free Republic

America's obesity epidemic is so deeply rooted that it will take dramatic and systemic measures - from overhauling farm policies and zoning laws to, possibly, introducing a soda tax - to fix it, the influential Institute of Medicine said on Tuesday. In an ambitious 478-page report, the IOM refutes the idea that obesity is largely the result of a lack of willpower on the part of individuals. Instead, it embraces policy proposals that have met with stiff resistance from the food industry and lawmakers, arguing that multiple strategies will be needed to make the U.S. environment less "obesogenic." The IOM,...

This is the section of the Farm bill that just passed the Senate that provides $30,000,000 in taxpayer money to Asparagus growers. S.2302 Food and Energy Security Act of 2007 SEC. 1852. MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR ASPARAGUS PRODUCERS. (a) In General- As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make payments to producers of the 2007 crop of asparagus for market loss resulting from imports during the 2004 through 2007 crop years. (b) Payment Rate- The payment rate for a payment under this section shall be based on the reduction in revenue received...

U.S. Farm Subsidies Favor Big Over Small, White Over Black SHELBY, Miss. -- From 2001 to 2005, the federal government spent nearly $1.2 billion in agricultural subsidies to boost farmers' incomes and invigorate local economies in this poverty-stricken region of the Mississippi Delta. Most residents are black, but less than 5 percent of the money went to black farmers. They own relatively little land, and so they generally do not qualify for the payments. Ninety-five percent of the money went to large, commercial farms, virtually all of which have white owners. In Bolivar County, where Shelby is located, farmers received...

A great rift is opening in America's once-impregnable farm lobby. It is a gap between those forms of agriculture that can prosper on their own and the ones that must be perpetually propped up by huge subsidies. This is a critical development if this country is ever going to control the costs of its farm programs and deal fairly with poor countries that want their chance to prosper from global trade. The United States has to acknowledge that it can no longer continue to support hopelessly unprofitable agricultural enterprises, even if they are in states represented by powerful members of...

WASHINGTON - A tractor-driving North Carolina farmer whose one-man protest of federal farm policy last spring created enormous traffic jams around the capital is defending himself in court. Dwight Watson, 50, who drove his tractor into a pond on the National Mall and sat there for two days while police sharpshooters kept him in their sights, is charged with making a false threat to use explosives and destroying government property. No explosives were found, although a practice grenade incapable of detonating was found inside the cab of Watson's tractor after he surrendered. Watson's trial in U.S. District Court was scheduled...