Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Global Warming -- Watch on Rising Insurance Rates

It doesn’t matter – crop insurance, flood insurance, you name it! We can expect taxpayer-funded insurance programs to only go up. See more details here.

“Investigators Warn of Global Warming Costs … Taxpayer-Funded Insurance Program May Take a Hit” by David Lightman and Joel Lange, Hartford Courant. 4/19/2007

Milk Dispute

Consumer Choice? Do you think dairy producers and consumers should have the right to choose whether synthetic hormones should be in the milk we drink? Essentially, Monsanto says, NO! You decide?

“Monsanto having a cow in milk label dispute … 'Hormone free' tag unfair, company says” by Stephen J. Hedges, Chicago Tribune. 4/11/2007

Organic Agriculture

The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture held a hearing on the economic impact of organic agriculture. Organic food is currently a $14 billion industry, accounting for about 2 percent of total retail food sales in the United States. That number is projected to grow to as much as $23.8 billion and 3.5 percent of the U.S. food market by 2010. Once you’ve clicked the following, you might want to click again at the bottom of the media release to read the actual testimony.

U.S. House Committee on Agriculture

Farm Bill Progresses

This week’s Senate Agriculture Hearing was pretty interesting. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 – better known as the Farm Bill, will expire this year, but legislators are already at work, preparing to write a new Farm Bill to take its place. Although some members of the media all too often tend to emphasize commodity programs only, the reality is that the Farm Bill also benefits all urban dwellers, e.g., school lunch, land conservation, food stamps and other nutrition programs, rules on trade, Rural Electrification (serving many urban areas despite its “Rural” name) and lately, our nation’s push for energy independence. We invite you to see/hear the details yourself.