Quick thought on Markets, Money and Food Politics

So recently I wrote a post that was perhaps about the personal financial cost of pastured meat verses the humane cost of industrial meat, specifically poultry. Now, to try and find a way for people on much tighter budgets than mine to be able to have chicken without having to sacrifice a little piece of their humanity ( as I feel you must if you eat industrial meats and have any awareness of what that involves.) I think about that story in the Omnivores dilemma where Joel Salatin's friend and business associate put everything he had into building a small meat processing plant to allow small farmers a place to take their animals without having to turn to some huge, industrial meat processing plant, most of which are unwilling to deal with small farmers anyway. As the Omnivore's Dilemma was published, I believe the end of that story placed this gentleman near bankruptcy because after putting huge amounts of money into its construction, the FDA had denied him the permits required for the facility to operate. Somehow, something bigger than our selves, needs to happen here. Part of what I love about eating local is that I feel as though I am a part of something larger than myself. Supporting local farms with our food dollars is very important. Supporting, legislators, and candidates for office that will support changes to farm bills and food regulation that benefit small farmers and not just industrial giants is also important.

Figuring out who support what or even is aware of any of these issues is daunting. My best advice...find one related issue that you can voice a clear opinion on ...ie. more money for small farmers in the Farm Bill and contact your state and federal legislators and city and county councilmen and let them know where you stand on the issue. How about the city's support of hobby bee keepers?, the cities stand on laying hens kept on property within city limits?

Recently a friend of mine told me that Obama has stated he supports reducing subsidies for large corporate farms and shifting those dollars to support small scale family farms. (my rough recap of what I was told... not any exact phrasing!)