Hunger and the Farm Bill

I was born in Southwest Minnesota and loved to visit Uncle Herb's farm. He grew corn, wheat, and oats. He also had a dairy herd, raised a few hogs, some chickens and a few ducks. There was lots of diversity and variety. It was a wholesome way to live and raise children. Many people think thats the way farming works today.

Enter economics of scale. Farmers were sold on the idea that restricting the farm to one activity and going for broke would be easier and make them more money. As a result, Uncle Herb's family farm is mostly a thing of the past. Iowa is a good example. In Iowa, it's corn, corn and more corn. For some farmers, it's pork, pork and more pork or beef, beef and more beef. Family farms are also being replaced by corporations. More economics of scale. But such economics of scale is killing the land itself. Over production of corn requires massive dosages of fertilizer. Corn ethanol is no answer because it takes almost a gallon of fossil fuel to make a gallon of ethanol. Ever wonder why there is so much bacon in restaurant menus? Over production of pork. Run off from feed lots is also a major problem.
The Farm Bill is up for renewal. The average American thinks it is going to benefit the Uncle Herbs of this world. It isn't. As it stands it is going to benefit the big corporations.
This involves world hunger because our government helps corporate farmers compete on world markets against the little farmers world wide.
Please do something about this now. Go to either The One Campaign or Bread for the World websites for more information.