Obama and McCain lie fallow on farms

Oct 27, 2008      Courier Press

Wheat and corn grower Billy Bob Brown has been busy farming in the windswept Texas Panhandle, but not too busy to listen for the views of Barack Obama and John McCain on food and farm policy.

But Brown hasn't heard much from the two presidential contenders on the subject. He's not alone. Despite the importance to the country of agriculture and food issues, they've gotten short shrift from the candidates so far.

"As long as you put food in your mouth, have clothes on your back and you get in an automobile and turn the key and drive, you're involved in agriculture because we provide food, fiber and fuel for everyone," Brown said.

Brain Halweil of the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental advocacy group, agrees this year's campaigns have bypassed these crucial issues.

"This is not the election where people are talking about farmers' markets and food stamps and changing the face of American agriculture," said Halweil, an expert in food and agriculture policy.

Democrat Obama and Republican McCain did take time to answer questions from the American Farm Bureau, an industry and lobbying group for agricultural producers.

But it's unclear who's asking the questions on behalf of American consumers about farm subsidies, local and organic foods, the environment, and renewable fuels made from crops.

Halweil and other alternative voices say they are not happy with agriculture today, built as it is on government payments to producers in an outdated system that wastes money and encourages farmers to produce commodities that make us fat.

In 2007, $5 billion in direct government payments flowed to producers, according to the Environmental Working Group, which maintains an extensive subsidy database. The government paid $34.8 billion in commodity program subsidies from 2003 to 2005.

From Arizona, McCain opposes farm subsidies and wants reform. He voted against the 2008 farm bill, legislation some contend did little to revamp the system.

Obama, hailing from mega-corn producing Illinois, voted for the 2008 farm bill and favors a strong safety net, which he defined in a Farm Bureau questionnaire as traditional farm programs, crop insurance and disaster assistance.

The single policy change that could help Americans the most would be to shift from commodity payments to "green or ecological payments," Halweil said.

"Farmers would still get paid, but they would be rewarded for certain ecological goals - not just producing a bushel of corn," he said.

Cutting back on fertilizer and pesticide, planting winter cover crops and introducing more diversity into farms could also pay off for producers, Halweil said.

But environmental advocate Halweil thinks both are missing the point.

"An American farm can sequester a ton of carbon and make a serious dent in the greenhouse gases that Americans generate in any given year," he said.

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