House Panel Hears From Small Business Produce Farmers
Aug 4th, 2009 | By Dawn R. Rivers | Category: Politics & PolicyThe next time you hear a farmer or a financier or somebody from the U.S. Department of Agriculture talk about “specialty crops,” keep this in mind: they are not talking about exotic food substances or uber-organic produce or anything like that. They are talking about everything that farmers grow that is not one of the five commodity crops subsidized by the federal government: corn, wheat, soy, rice and cotton. In other words, they are talking about food. Food such as apples and squash and peaches and cauliflower and carrots. Food that you can buy directly from farmers, if you happen to live in the vicinity of farms. Food that has nothing whatsoever to do with high fructose corn syrup.
It’s rather telling that the vast majority of the wide variety of plant species that humans have domesticated for food crops has been reduced to “specialty crops.” It tells you, among other things, that U.S. agricultural policy is unambiguously and unapologetically owned by giant corporate farms and giant diversified agribusiness concerns. All of which was the 800 pound gorilla in the room throughout a hearing last week before the House Small Business Committee, Subcommittee on Rural Development, Entrepreneurship and Trade. There’s a lot to be happy about with the latest iteration of the Farm Bill if you are a small specialty crop farmer. On the other hand, the several missed opportunities for subsidy reform would have let Congress kill several birds with one stone: save taxpayer money, level the playing field for small farmers, and help to address a costly public health issue.
