Farm bill in a nutshell

Michael Pollan to the rescue

By Kim Carlson

November 5, 2007

Michael Pollan addressed the farm bill in the New York Times this weekend. For those of us laypeople — or eaters, as Pollan wisely prefers to call us — trying to better understand this $288 billion legislation but finding it rough going on a stormy sea, the piece is a lifeboat. Nicely concise yet in-depth enough to cover the bill’s main points and the possibilities for amendments in the Senate, Pollan’s piece is a must-read.

And although it’s not in the Times, Pollan also issued this call to action in an email this weekend:

The bill comes to the Senate floor this week. There are some important amendments on the floor, as I discuss in the piece. Please do let your Senators know where you stand.

Because if you don’t tell them, lobbyists will carry the day — and even though they’re eaters too, their hearts aren’t in sync with their stomachs on this one.