The Beginning of the End of the Department of Agriculture!

I'm afraid that we are seeing the beginning of the end of the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA facilitates one of the largest sources of federal funding to Rural America. Under the new Obama administration, the trend of moving this funding source away from Rural America and to the population centers will undoubtedly be accelerated.

This week, an editorial from New York Times' columnist Nicholas Kristof entitled "How about naming a Secretary of Food," articulated this trend very clearly. Kristof states, "Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy – all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-kristof_13edi.State.Edition1.2a4e285.html

Kristof's editorial summarizes a long-time popular attack on traditional agriculture -- divert money away from USDA farm programs to food programs concentrated where the people are -- population centers. As argued by Kristof, only 2% of us are farmers, but 100% of us eat.


Kristof is no crackpot either -- he is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes and former managing editor of the New York Times. His opinions would certainly be considered mainstream in today's media world.

My concern is that while this frontal assault is being waged, Rural America continues to perpetuate the problem. Traditional agriculture continues to cling to the last remnants of their turf and resist reforms that would be more marketable to mainstream America. At the same time, each sector of agriculture attacks the other as they continue to fight over an ever shrinking piece of the pie.

The rural town kids, not recognizing that one of the largest returns on their tax investment is being systematically torn down, continue to tell farmer jokes and beat their chests reciting the motto, "get rid of subsidy payments for factory farms". As the saying goes, be careful what you ask for, you may get it. The new "Department of Food" will eliminate payments to farmers... and to Rural America.