
Seemingly lost in the media discussion of the ACA,
Sequester, and the budget compromise is any discussion of passing a Farm Bill,
much less confronting the question of Immigration.
The Farm Bill is a piece of legislation that is presented as
a modification of laws controlling all matters regulated by the Department of
Agriculture, both foreign and domestic. The
bill is introduced in a soft five-year cycle, which explains why it does not
seem to have the urgency of a budget bill.

And therein lays the problem. Programs like the Title 1 school meals and
food stamps have become controversial.
Not that they don’t do good. As
local Chairman of the American Institute of Wine and Food, I was well aware of
their Days of Taste ® Program , which in Orange County meant we
went into Title 1 Schools for two days, the first of which was spent in
teaching food values, how to read labels, and the progression of food from farm
to table. The second day we gave them
money and took them to the local Farmer’s Market where they shopped for their
families. I found out that WIC coupons
were legal tender at the Market.
When I surveyed my table of eight, after
making the dressing for the communal Harvest Salad that followed out trip to
the Market, I found that six of the eight had eaten fast food the night before,
one had eaten Chinese (which was probably fast food) and one had eaten
nothing. The School Lunch program was
their main source of nutritious meals.
But dairy also is a large component of the SNAP
(Food Stamp) Program allowing the $135 per week to have higher purchasing power
on nutritious meal planning. Review of
the 2008 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act was due for replacement by
September 2013. Since the rolls of food
assistance has grown to more than 15% of the population or 47.7 million
Americans at a cost of almost $75 billion a year, there were serious concerns about how to
control the costs inherent in continued subsidies. A consequence was a plan to discontinue dairy
subsidies entirely in the newly considered bill.
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First U.S. Food Stamps - 1939 |
Opposition was so divided yin the Congress,
that an extension was made until the end of the year. But to the best of my knowledge that means
that by the time Congress returns from the Holiday recess, we will have fallen
over the Milk Cliff.
![]() |
G. W. Bush |
The House has done no further action since the
proposed bill failed to pass in June 2013.
The senate passed their bill in June 2013, but it has received no
support from the House, essentially because it does not address the Food Stamp
issue.
Before I started on this post, I wanted to
find out how much milk costs in today’s market.
I didn’t want to repeat President H. W. Bush, who may have lost his
reelection because he didn’t know the price of milk. Turns out it is about $2.99 a half gallon at
the local supermarket and about a dollar less when Mary buys it at the Camp
Pendleton Commissary.
Double that and milk is more expensive by far
than gas.
While I usually try to keep my observations
objective and not political, I find myself less concerned that Barrack Obama has increased his gray-hair
quotient by putting more people on food support than I am about how his actions
have increased the gray in my hair since his election.
In my next post I will cover another somewhat
political issue: what about the military
commissaries? I would hope you will find
that interesting.
Thank you again for your flawless service, and I look forward to working with you in the future.
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