Market Farming

["GlobalCirclenet" <webmaster AT globalcircle.net>]

Good people, what we're getting constantly from this guy is the actual Farm
Bureau disinformation campaign, and the financial giants of agribusiness
have too much to lose if they ignore populist movements in farming.  Part
of their public relations drive is paying certain small farmers to argue
their case for them locally and on the Internet. The first rule of
effective propaganda (called "public relations") for big money is to always
appear to be one of the little guys, just "home folks" like everybody else.


Jill in Wisconsin provided this link to Amber Waves of Grain at
http://www.familyfarmer.org/awg.html and I highly recommend reading all
they've put up on their website about the FB, and you can draw your own
conclusions about the disinformation campaign we're seeing.  The Farm Lobby
Colossus http://www.familyfarmer.org/awg04.pdf details the interlocking
interests between financial business and FB officials. Other links confirm
that in much of their lobbying campaign the FB is little more than a front
for the agribusiness conglomerates, pesticide peddlers, and the
anti-environmental lobbies. 

More alarming is the FB money spent lobbying in so many public policy areas
that have no possible connection to farm policy. See
http://www.familyfarmer.org/awg13.pdf . List members may or may not agree
with FB lobbying to throw unwed mothers and their children out on the
street, or their lobbying to kill the Voting Rights Act, or officials'
bigotry and ignorance, but I for one will support what I believe in on an
issue-by-issue basis instead of giving a blank check to unaccountable rich
yahoos working for somebody else.

paul & barb - on the continental divide
http://globalcircle.net


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 10/10/2002 at 10:12 PM Rick Williams wrote:

>It is possible that you are not aware of our extensive Washington lobby
>efforts. The influence of the FB is huge on farm policy in the U.S. No
>other
>group has the clout that we have. Especially when we team up with other
>farm
>groups, in particular the NFU.
>
snip