I’m no fan of the current farm subsidies. We end up with huge monocultures of corn and soybeans, which then have to be stuffed into everything we eat. (Why is there high fructose corn syrup in kielbasi? Check the ingredients, you’ll be amazed.)
Just as bad, the subsidies only really help the big businesses with all the lobbyists: ADM, Cargill, Monsanto. I’m sure plenty of farmers would be willing to disagree, saying the subsidies keep them in business. But wouldn’t the money be just as green if it subsidized a wider variety of fruits and vegetables, instead of just the commodity grains?
A study released earlier this year by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University shows that switching some acreage from commodity crop production to fruits and vegetables would have huge benefits for the local economies.
In the first scenario, increased production of 28 fruits and vegetable crops in those six states could mean about $882 million in sales at the farm level, more than 9,300 jobs and about $395 million in labor income. An estimated 270,025 acres would be needed to produce those crops, roughly equivalent to the average amount of cropland in one of Iowa’s 99 counties.
…
Swenson estimates that increased fruit and vegetable production for the 28 metro markets would result in $637.44 million in farm-level sales and 6,694 farm-level jobs, compared to 1,892 jobs under corn and soybean production. The farmer-retail direct economic impact portion of this activity would generate 6,021 jobs.
If you look at those numbers, you understand exactly why big agribusiness lobbies so hard for the current system: It eliminates all those jobs, and sends all that money directly to them instead of the local economy.
On a lighter note …
Check out the health claims in this vintage Tootsie Roll ad. (Click to enlarge)
“Enriched with dextrose — for quick food energy”
Awesome. And check out the comments for more great insights.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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9 Comments
so important, Drew. I’m glad you posted this. May I put this up on my own blog? The Silver Cloud Diet. My readers need this too.
and btw, as a college girl, my roommate and I went on a tootsie roll diet to lose the “Freshman Fifteen”. weight we’d gained as kids eating in the dorm for the first time. It worked too. Of course, we also went to the friendly neighborhood doctor who gave us a scrip for “diet pills” which turned out to be speed and nearly made us both crash. ha.
Linda, glad to share it.
So was the tootsie roll diet your own invention?
I j’adore you. Great post. Thanks for adding the politics of food to your ingredients.
I agree. Important stuff.
I wish I could get a subsidy to hire someone to harvest all my tomatoes for me. My back is protesting the hauling of both the giant infant and The Dishpan full of tomatoes day after day. To say nothing of hefting huge canning pots full of water.
More farm jobs might mean an increase in health care costs.
Kristin, until some of my tomatoes turn red, I plan on having no sympathy for the travails of your overwhelming harvest.
I wish there was a way that we could add in the amount that would be saved from things like decreased amounts of bacteria going into our foods leading to mass recall and sickness that has occurred because of the current farming system. It’s amazing that some states have reported this issue back since January and just now the big organizations are doing something to get rid of it from their supplies. Makes me happy I have a Whole Foods near by that supplies me with local products because for some reason I can’t find eggs at the farmer’s markets here. Can’t find cow’s milk cheese either because for some reason we do all goat cheese here, which I have learned to appreciate, but I grew up in WI so I do love my cow’s milk.
Well Tootsie Rolls do come in lots of delicious fruit flavors now. They must have some nutritional benefits.
But it’s nice to see that in a simpler time, all medical bills could be paid by family talents shows and doctors would give kids Tootsie Rolls.
And this is why my husband and I are choosing to pursue Urban Sustainable Agriculture instead of having a farm out in the middle of nowhere. We think growing our own food is great, but improving the local economy by making fresh foods available is much better.
Shanti, many states have prohibitive regulations on selling eggs offsite of your farm, but on your farm you can sell anything anyone wants to give you money for. That’s probably why you can’t find eggs at your farmer’s market – it’s sure why I can’t find eggs at mine. With a bit of research you may be able to find a local venue for fresh eggs, instead of having to go to Whole Foods, where they will be more expensive, less fresh (transportation to a warehouse vs gathered that morning?), and where your money is funding a huge corporation instead of going straight to a local farmer. Besides, even at Whole Foods, I’ve never found egg yolks quite as orange or flavorful as those from my parents’ chickens.
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