[permaculture] Farmer in Chief by Michael Polin
Brent McMillan
brent at gp.org
Thu Oct 23 14:23:04 EDT 2008
The New York Times
Farmer in Chief
by Michael Polin
Oct. 9, 2008
It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much
of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the
campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have
had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration —
the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril.
Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the
commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our
supermarket foods are derived have succeeded impressively in keeping
prices low and food more or less off the national political agenda. But
with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap
and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is
that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself
confronting the fact — so easy to overlook these past few years — that
the health of a nation’s food system is a critical issue of national
security. Food is about to demand your attention.
Read More.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=magazine>
Sincerely:
Brent McMillan
Steward of Wood Haven, Avilla, Indiana
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