Daniel Imhoff, author of "Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill," writes that the farm bill is “essentially a $90 billion per year tax bill for food, feed and fiber.”

 

It is federal legislation, renewed every five years or so, that doles out subsidies to various agricultural interests and, accordingly, shapes everything from the landscape to what’s in your grocery cart.

 

Advocates like Imhoff want to rename the bill the “Food Bill” and overhaul it to provide money for programs that end hunger and provide fresh food for everyone, instead of subsidizing junk food producers and special interests, which is what it does now.

 

From "Eat Where You Live," Copyright © 2008 by Lou Bendrick.

 

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