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GUEST: Debra Eschmeyer, Center for Food & Justice at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College

The Farm Bill has been passed in the house and will soon face a vote in the Senate. Among other things, the bill will continue to guarantee inflated prices for certain agricultural products and will artificially bring down prices for others. The bill does little to answer the concerns of small farmers or everyday consumers, and will instead spend nearly $300 billion dollars over the next five years to finance giant agri-business through subsidies, loans and regulation. Small farm groups say that the loans and subsidies serve to run small farmers off of their land, and only contribute to the downward spiral for young, entry-level farmers. Environmentalists say that financing factory farming leads to massive waste and pollution, and public health advocates question why the bill subsidizes hydrogenated oil and high-fructose corn syrup at a time when the nation’s children are plagued with obesity and diabetes. The bill also faces a challenge with the WTO, where developing nations say that subsidies violate trade agreements.

For more information, visit hww.departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/ and www.farmtoschool.org