Why is the World Angry About the US Farm Bill?
by Hal Hamilton
— September 19, 2002 —
Editorials and proclamations around the world express dismay about the 2002 U.S. farm bill. Media releases from the world summit in Johannesburg were full of criticisms by people in the developing world.
They blame us for hypocritically touting free trade while we subsidize exports that are dumped in their markets. Their local farmers are pushed [...]
Farming Nature in Holland
by Marleen van den Top, Anton Stortelder, and Hal Hamilton
— July 19, 2002 —
We can glimpse one future for agriculture by taking a trip to the land of tulips and Gouda cheese.
Holland is one of the densest populated agricultural countries in the world, and the Dutch people place a premium on nature. They created a government fund to support what [...]
Farming Can Be Both High-Yield and Sustainable
by Hal Hamilton
— June 17, 2002 —
Dennis Avery is the leading challenger of sustainable agriculture, and he sets up “high-yield” agriculture as its opposite. Why can’t high-yield agriculture also be sustainable?
Unfortunately, Avery seems less interested in exploring the future of farming than in selling industrial agriculture. He claims that industrial methods are the best way to preserve nature and feed [...]
Healthy Systems Need Good Feedback
by Elizabeth Sawin
— June 2, 2002 —
Friends of mine tell me that their daughter will only eat meat if she knows the name of the animal that died to produce it. She’ll eat the pork roast from pigs grown on our farm — but not the anonymous bacon offered up in the college dining hall. Adherence to this one guideline [...]
How Long Can We Fool Ourselves?
by Hal Hamilton
— May 1, 2002 —
Why do people consistently believe what isn’t true? I’m reading a stream of news about the farm bill just passed by Congress: one more attempt to export and subsidize the farm economy to prosperity after decades of evidence that these dollars flow right on through farmers’ pockets.
I’m also reading data from a survey of [...]
