Senate Passes 2012 Farm Bill

As promised, the Senate passed a bi-partisan farm bill yesterday. Bob Fuss has more:
 

“In a rare, bi-partisan achievement, the Senate has passed a major new farm bill, funding food stamps and other nutrition programs for five years. Farmers would till get help in hard times, but the direct subsidies that sometimes pays them even when they don’t plant anything would stop, and the wealthiest farmers would stop getting assistance all together. The bill saves money but still faces a tough time with more conservative House republicans.”
 

Sen Stabenow praised the Farm Bill she helped write and get through the Senate:
 

“Men and women who work hard from sunrise to sunset to give us the bounty of safe nutritious food that we put on our tables today, they deserve the certainty of this bill.”
 

Stabenow outlined in general terms what the Senate version of the bill contains:
 

“We are eliminating more than 100 authorization and programs, and streamlining others, strengthening crop insurance, consolidating conservation programs…”
 

Food Industry Creates Dialogue
 

Television producers and personalities joined ranchers and agricultural professionals to discuss perceptions and realities of farming in America during the Food Dialogues – hosted by the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance in Los Angeles this week.

Chef and television host Danny Boome said despite the “foodie” movement -most consumers have one thing in common…
 

“It’s about the buck at the end of the day…I need to stretch that money so we try and take the best ingredients or open up different ingredients to people to enhance the recipe, create…and also give people confidence, too. we’ve lost their instincts.”
 

Boome says getting Americans back in touch with how to cook food is every bit as important as helping them understand where their food comes from – and is an underlying factor in many of today’s food-related policy issues – including obesity…

“We will cross the street without looking when everybody else crosses the street, but we don’t’ trust ourselves to put garlic and rosemary in a little bit of chicken. Why do we do that? And we question ourselves so much.”
 

Crude Oil Prices Continue Downward Spiral
 

Oil prices have fallen to their lowest level since last October. The price on the New York exchange dipped below 80-dollars a barrel for the first time in 8 months. Oil Analyst John Kilduff says you can thank a slew of issues…
 

“The slowing economic conditions, the lack of action by the Fed, and plenty of crude oil supply is giving a very welcome gift here to consumers.”
 

Survey Shows Consumers Want Antibiotic-free Meat
 

A majority of Americans want antibiotic-free meat, according to a national poll released by Consumer Reports.
The release of the poll coincides with the launch of a new marketplace campaign by Consumers Union, the “public policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports,” urging supermarkets to sell only meat raised without antibiotics. The campaign begins at Trader Joe’s, a supermarket Consumers Union calls “one of the leading national chains best poised to make this commitment.” Consumers Union also sent a letter to USDA asking the agency to tighten labeling standards for meat raised without antibiotics. The report, “Meat on Drugs: The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals and What Supermarkets and Consumers Can Do to Stop It,” is available at Consumer Reports.org.