By Pamela Hess, editor of Flavor OK, so. Chickens and Eggs. You may be aware the Congress has taken up a bill promoted by the The Humane Society of the United States to improve the lives of egg-laying chickens in industry hen houses. It’s a step forward… a tiny one. But. It’s going to take [...]
by Sam Mitchell Now that the Farm Bill baton has been handed from the Senate to the House of Representatives, it’s worth pausing for a moment to examine the bill’s major features from the perspective of small farmers and the sustainable agriculture movement. Commodity Reform Good: From a policy perspective, the bill’s most significant provision [...]
By Sam Mitchell The Mount Lemmon Marathon–an annual race held outside Tuscon, Arizona–starts in the desert floor and ends in the village of Summerhaven near the top of the highest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountain range. From start to finish, the course’s elevation increases 6,000 feet, all uphill. Two thousand miles to the east, [...]
By Sam Mitchell The road ahead is increasingly bumpy, but the Farm Bill continues to lurch forward, one pothole at a time. After clearing a procedural hurdle last week, the Senate officially began consideration of the bill on Monday, setting the stage for a time-honored Senate practice–the filing, consideration, and disposition of amendments. Under normal [...]
By Sam Mitchell The Standing Rules of the United States Senate officially consist of 44 rules, each with their own sub-rules, caveats, and conditions. They cover everything from the appointment of a presiding officer (Rule I), to the filibuster (Rule XXII), to the jurisdiction and make-up of Committees (Rules XXIV-XXVII); their reach extends even to [...]
by Sam Mitchell When most of us think of pies, our mouths start watering. In the world of farm policy, however, pies are more frequently represented as budget charts–and their impact on the next Farm Bill is likely to leave a bitter taste in our mouths. Last Thursday, after a brief delay, the Senate Agriculture [...]
by Sam Mitchell The cow is finally out of the barn. And it’s a little leaner than it was four years ago. Last Friday, the Senate Agriculture Committee fired the opening legislative salvo in the effort to pass a 2012 Farm Bill when Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) released their [...]
by Sam Mitchell Around these parts, a healthy mix of policy, politics, and punditry is as much a part of a balanced meal as protein, vegetables, and starch. I hope you’re hungry, because you’re about to get your fill of all three, wrapped up in a colossal–and colossally important–piece of federal legislation known as the [...]
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