The Hand That Feeds U.S.

Federal Farm Policy Continues to Face Cuts

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:24:27 -0500

It is grossly inaccurate to lump the farm safety net in with other government programs, such as Medicare and Social Security, for which spending continues to grow ("The Perils of Pay Less, Get More," March 17, 2010).

In fact, funding for federal farm policy was cut by $7.4 billion in the 2008 farm bill, and those savings were applied to other initiatives in the legislation-nutrition and conservation, for example. This is not to mention that actual farm safety net spending has come in under the projected budget in seven of the last eight years-an especially impressive feat at a time when budget deficits are swelling in Washington.

The Denim Blues

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:21:34 -0500

Jeans have come a long way from their humble roots as the tough but affordable work pants made famous by Levi Strauss. It is no longer uncommon to see a pair of jeans selling for $100, $200, or even $300, and the global jeans market is valued at more than $50 billion. To people around the world, jeans represent a symbol of American culture, and many foreigners are willing to save their hard-earned wages for these expensive American imports.

Starving for a Little Common Sense

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:20:04 -0500

When we opened up a recent edition of The New York Times and saw the headline "The Obesity-Hunger Paradox," we got excited. Maybe, we thought, someone was finally tackling the issue of world hunger and how the obesity debate could ironically hinder U.S. farmers' ability to address this problem.

Farm Photo Contest - $1000 in Prizes

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:36:58 -0500

On March 15th, 2010, The Hand That Feeds U.S. launched the $1000 Farm Foto Contest. Visitors can submit their photos for a chance to win one of three cash prizes. A $500 First Prize, $300 Second Prize, and $200 Third Prize will be awarded. All photos must be submitted from March 15, 2010 at 12:01AM through Friday, April 23, 2010 at 11:59PM EST.

Bad Advice for a High Price

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:34:55 -0500

There's no doubt about it: "Agri-intellectual" Michael Pollan is a rock star in rich people's kitchens.

He's a bestselling author, has a devoted fan base, and continues to spread his message about the American food system. He's made a livingthere are press reports that he is paid $20,000 to $45,000 per public appearanceevangelizing his vision of the way people should eat.

It's just too bad that his message could cripple rural America while at the same time neutering our country's ability to provide a safe, healthy food supply for the world's exploding population.

Harvesting Sweet Energy

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:33:28 -0500

Look closely at the pellet in this man's hand. It is a symbol of a fascinating piece of new farming technology. Or as Neville Dolan jokes...

"It's actually good for bbq. We have a bbq every day."

Neville kids, but the work he's doing could be pretty special.

And it's happening near the gulf, an hour southwest of New Orleans, right here in Raceland, Louisiana, at the Raceland Sugar Mill.

So Inexpensive Restaurants Give It Away for Free

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:31:32 -0500

As a media spokesperson for the sugar industry, I talk to reporters a lot. And right now, they all seem to want to talk about one thing: sugar prices.

Many are confused about the difference between highly volatile world sugar prices, which have ranged from 6 cents to 30 cents per pound in the past five years, and U.S. prices, which tend to remain much steadier.

Picture This

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:30:43 -0500

Want to know who's really making the money off of rising food prices? Sometimes a picture says it all. Every time commodity prices are on the rise, we start hearing from the major food manufacturers that they are forced to raise their prices because of what is happening on the farm. This was especially true in 2008, when political opponents of ethanol were chiming in to try to convince the public that biofuels were to blame for higher grocery prices.

USDA: Food Prices to Rise in 2010...Again

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:29:42 -0500

For corn, wheat, and rice farmers, the strong prices they saw in 2007 and 2008 are but a distant memory by now. As a consumer, you probably haven't noticed.

That's because when you pour a bowl of Rice Krispies, Corn Pops, or Wheaties, the price tag stuck to the box is still higher than usual.

Newspapers were filled with stories in 2008 and 2009 about exploding grocery bills, and many of those pieces included quotes from food companies that painted farmers as the villain because of higher-than-usual crop prices.

If it Walks Like a Duck

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:02:29 -0500

One look at the smiles on Hill staffers' faces and you would've thought Christmas came early this year.

But it wasn't Santa delivering the goodies-it was the Cato Institute. And it wasn't presents causing the commotion-it was a royalty-like spread of food, a rarity on Capitol Hill since stringent lobbying standards were passed.

Harvest Series - Now Featuring: Peanuts

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:12:15 -0500

I arrived in Seminole after a long drive from Dallas along a dark, two-lane highway in the rain. I'd been warned all along that if it rained, there would be no harvest-and though I'd been planning the trip for months, I couldn't predict the weather. I stopped to get some rest, and hoped for the best.

When I woke in the morning, the weather was overcast. I figured that in this profession, you take what you can get, and I started the car. It was harvest time.

Whole Foods Thanksgiving

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:10:57 -0500

We all know Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate family. Of course, it's also a time to realize a number of people can't have the holiday they really want. The last year has made that abundantly clear to all of us.

So, we went to a kitchen in Washington, DC. Brian MacNair of the DC Central Kitchen told us the need is great all the time.

"Hunger knows no holiday," MacNair said. "Everyone wants to volunteer around Thanksgiving, but we need help 365 days a year".

Farmer Profile: Beth Clanton

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:09:43 -0500

I met many wonderful people on my journey through the West Texas farmlands, but few as remarkable as Beth Clanton.

Eleven years ago, Clanton was a second grade school teacher in Seminole, Texas. Her husband was a peanut and cotton farmer, and together, they had two daughters.

Towards the end of the school year, Clanton decided to take a leave of absence from teaching-a break she viewed as an opportunity to spend more time with her girls, and her husband John.

The Harvest Series: Cotton

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:45:27 -0500

I started my trip driving west from Dallas on a rainy Monday. The skies were grey and the fields I passed were silent and largely empty. I thought to myself, I am here for the harvest, right? But by Wednesday morning, as I made my way north through West Texas, the scene was a lot different. It was the second day of sunshine in a rain-riddled region, and boy could you tell. The farms were buzzing with all kinds of equipment; it seemed the harvest had finally begun.

The Harvest Series: Sugarbeets

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:44:27 -0500

The roads along the border of Minnesota and North Dakota are scattered with what look like concrete slabs with misplaced fans and farm equipment. But what may look like an eyesore to someone from the city is actually big business for rural communities in this region.

The Harvest Series: Wheat

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:43:38 -0500

My initial notion of a wheat harvest wasn't too far removed from my grade school lessons of the first Thanksgiving enjoyed by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. What greeted me on Gary Wagner's property that he farms in partnership with his two brothers was something entirely different. One would have immediately guessed their location to be a computer lab instead of the biggest combine John Deere has on the market.

Attack of the Belgian Endive Part 2

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:42:26 -0500

Long before he donned an oversize helmet and climbed aboard an M1 Abrams tank, Michael Dukakis had made a name for himself in rural America. While on the campaign trail in 1988, Dukakis told a roomful of Iowa corn and soybean farmers they'd be better off growing Belgian endive.

ILUC for Dummies

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:40:52 -0500

Imagine that you legally park your car on a city street. When you return, a stack of traffic citations rests on the windshield. Your tires are in the lines; the meter shows time remaining. You've been fined because other parked drivers throughout the city might not have parked illegally if you weren't occupying that space.

The End-All, Be-All Defense of Ethanol

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:39:46 -0500

By: Andy Quinn, Bushmills Ethanol
One by one, every challenge against ethanolproduced from one of America's most plentiful, green renewable energy sourceshas fallen flat in the face of facts.

Counting on Cooperatives

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:19:17 -0500

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported in August that farm profits would drop by more than 30 percent this year. It's bad news for an industry already plagued with high production costs and falling prices.

So how do our farmers, who struggle each year to just make a profit-let alone keep it-overcome such a downturn?

In Minnesota, more and more farmers are depending on each other by pooling their resources to start businesses, which ensures they're involved with processing, not just growing, crops.

The Incredible Shrinking Pie

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:17:09 -0500

Farmers have always known that they're on the short end of the food dollar. In fact, cultivators of the land only see about 19 cents out of every dollar Americans spend to buy the food they grow.

But a stat was thrown out during an August agricultural convention that even made the most grizzled farm veteran take notice.

Corn growers will only see about $175 out of an entire truckload of corn flakes-about 4,200 boxes worth-according to Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis.

"It costs more than $500 just to get the truckload of cereal to the store," he explained at the 26th International Sweetener Symposium in Park City, Utah.

The Hand that Feeds U.S. Puts a Face to the Farmer's Share

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:15:34 -0500

WASHINGTON (September 14, 2009)-The Hand that Feeds U.S. added an important feature to its website today that allows consumers to see the amount of money farmers and ranchers receive from everyday items they purchase in the grocery store, like cereal, bread, fruits, and vegetables.

The new feature, titled "Farmer's Share," comes to The Hand that Feeds U.S. courtesy of the National Farmers Union (NFU), who first created the resource and updates the data monthly.

Brazilian Agricultural Subsidies

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:07:21 -0500

For a country that is a leading exponent of agricultural trade liberalisation, Brazil certainly believes in protecting its farmers. What is remarkable is not only the scale of agricultural support but also that it mostly slips under the radar as Brazil, employing its self-designation as a developing country, can use the developing country exceptions built into the WTO to shield its agricultural support.

Farmer Media Outreach Effort Expands

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:19:26 -0500

WASHINGTON (August 4, 2009)-U.S. agricultures new media campaign, The Hand That Feeds U.S., is quickly gaining support in rural America by adding new member organizations at every turn, and the group today unveiled a new section on its website to make it easier for individuals to join.

Since launching on May 11, the coalition has added the Agricultural Retailers Association, American Agri-Women, Crop Insurance Professionals Association, Growth Energy, National Association of Wheat Growers and Texas Grain Sorghum Producers to its broad list of funding members. And the coalition has continued to win the acclaim of rank-and-file farmers.

Home Sweet Home

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:18:08 -0500

Most of us have two livesa work life and a family life. But as one sugar company has shown, when business grows out of family, work might just end up being a home.

Thats what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In August 2005, the storm devastated areas along the Gulf Coast, with Louisiana bearing the brunt of her wrath. Like thousands of other homes and businesses, the Domino Sugar refinery in Arabi was ripped apart, submerged in water and dried out a broken, non-working version of its old self. Before the storm, the refinery produced 19 percent of Americas refined cane sugar. Immediately after, sugar stocks were gone. Equipment was gone. Most importantly, employees were gone, forced to evacuate across the country.

Farmer Pat Benedict - Back to the Future

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:16:13 -0500

To his friends and family, Pat Benedict is a soft-spoken farmer from a small town in Minnesota. Few are even aware Benedict is an icon of modern agriculture. In 1978, he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine for an article dubbed "The New U.S. Farmer."

At the time, American agriculture was undergoing major change, and the article sought to depict the industry's sweeping transformations in areas like technology, production, expansion, and federal farm policy.

Letters to the Editors

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:59:30 -0500

Negative editorials that tear down the 125,000 men and women who produce 75% of the nations food and clothing have become almost commonplace in some of the countrys biggest newspapers. Even worse, responses from the farming community to these attacks are rarely printed-until now. This section of the site will house the numerous unpublished letters to the editor.

An Ironic Twist

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:58:08 -0500

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) caused quite a stir in rural America when it released its farm subsidy database in 2004.

Farmers were justifiably mad that their personal financial information was being aired publicly-some growers such as Terry Wanzek even felt tremendous hardship as a result of the invasion of privacy. But what made growers the maddest was the way EWG packaged and misrepresented the information.

Farmer Profile: Terry Wanzek

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:56:36 -0500

An elected official, Terry Wanzek is well known and well liked around North Dakota. In fact, the state senator from Jamestown has represented the people of the 29th district since 1995-except for one interrupted term in 2005.

Farmer Profile: Noel Shapiro

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:54:09 -0500

Noel Shapiro's family has seen their share of ruthless dictators.

As a young boy, Noel and his family fled Poland over fears of an invasion from Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. This came just one generation after the Shapiros left Russia when Vladimir Lenin took control.

TIME Flies: Part 4

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:46:41 -0500

Three decades ago, TIME magazine took an in-depth look at The New American Farmer. At the time of their feature, the business of farming was rapidly shifting from the inefficient, tiny farms that dominated the 1930s, to larger-scale family run operations that need to be adept at business, engineering, and technology to keep up with the world's growing population.

The Hand that Feeds U.S. Receives Outpouring of Support from Farm Community

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:50:48 -0500

WASHINGTON (June 24, 2009)-The Hand that Feeds U.S., a project aimed at educating urban media about the importance of U.S. agriculture, has received an enthusiastic welcome from the farming and ranching community it hopes to defend.

The Long Trip to New York

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:02:07 -0500

NEW YORK (June 17, 2009)-Last month, a group of Texas farmers traveled more than 2,000 miles to New York City to meet with urban reporters and talk about the importance of our rural communities. As it turns out, these farmers weren't as far away from home as they might have thought.

TIME Flies: Part 3

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:55 -0500

In addition to bad hairdos, Woodstock, and butterfly collars, the 70s also brought with it groundbreaking technologies that propelled many U.S. businesses into a new era. Farming was no exception.

TIME Flies: Part 2

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:59:51 -0500

To hear agriculture's opponents tell it, you'd think most farmers are raking in the big bucks. But anyone who's been around the business knows that's never been the case. The margins in farming are as thin today-maybe thinner-as when TIME magazine had this to say in a 1978 cover story "The New American Farmer"

TIME Flies: Part 1

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:58:26 -0500

Nowadays, it's pretty difficult to get a mainstream news organization to pay much attention to the business of farming or the importance of the profession to the country. Big-city reporters today tend to focus on the sensational and the conflicts created by a handful of over-zealous farm opponents.

The End-All, Be-All Defense of Ethanol

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:56:06 -0500

By: Andy Quinn, Bushmills Ethanol
One by one, every challenge against ethanolproduced from one of America's most plentiful, green renewable energy sourceshas fallen flat in the face of facts.

Farmers Take Pro-Ag Message to the Big Apple

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:53:01 -0500

NEW YORK (May 26, 2009)-Members of The Hand That Feeds U.S. gathered in New York City last Thursday and Friday for face-to-face meetings with urban journalists, including reporters from the New York Times, CNN, FOX News and Marketplace radio.

Big Grocery Bills Meet Big Lobbying Dollars

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:49:44 -0500

Watch the video

It's not often that a United States Senator becomes so enraged with a trade association that he'll march to the Senate floor and rail on the group for more than half an hour.

It's even less common that a senior statesman will completely unearth the dark underbelly of the DC spin industry during such a heated tirade.

But that's exactly what happened in May 2008 when Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) berated the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) for spending buckets of money to manufacture a national food versus fuel debate.

In his speech Grassley exposed that an Inside-the-Beltway public relations firm was receiving $50,000 a month from GMA to blame ethanol and farmers for higher grocery bills.

Americans Want Their Food Red, White and Blue

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:47:55 -0500

U.S. farmers sometimes worry that the American public takes them for granted.

Not so, according to a March Harris Interactive poll that found nine out of 10 Americans felt it was important for the United States to produce food domestically instead of relying on foreign suppliers.

These results were not surprising to Larry Combest, the former Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

"All you have to do is pick up a newspaper to see stories of food safety issues around the globe," he said. "Americans know we still have the safest food supply in the world and that's because of the strict regulations imposed every step of the way."

McKeany-Flavell Company, a California-based research firm that specializes in the food industry, described some of these safety regulations in a paper that examined the importance of U.S. sugar farmers to food companies. That study explained:

U.S. Farmers Rank Low on Global Subsidy Scale

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:47:36 -0500

LUBBOCK, Texas-Compared to other major agricultural producers-both developed and developing countries-America ranks near the bottom of the subsidization and tariff scale, according to a global subsidy handbook compiled in April by Texas Tech University.

Conducted by researchers at the university's Cotton Economics Research Institute (CERI), "the study highlights the often overlooked fact that all countries, regardless of size, protect their agricultural producers-and generally do so far more than we do in the United States," explained CERI director Dr. Darren Hudson.

"Our research shows that the U.S. falls near the bottom of the heap in terms of the use of tariffs and in a similar position relative to domestic support," he continued. "Unfortunately, because the World Trade Organization (WTO) recognizes some subsidies and not others in their calculations, WTO Doha Round negotiations could make the playing field more lopsided, putting the U.S. farm sector at an even greater disadvantage."

Ain't we popular?

Steve Kvopperud — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:47:21 -0500

All of sudden all things "food" are sexy and media worthy, from recalls of tainted peanut products and spinach-and the accompanying rallying cry from Capitol Hill to reinvent food regulation-to the increasingly self-righteous call for all things edible to be local, natural, holistic and pure.

We endure journalism professors from Berkeley writing books about how we should eat, academics from New York City telling us what's safe and what isn't, chic restaurateurs adding their two cents, and Hollywood types trashing us for everything from our alleged systemic animal cruelty to dire "documentary" warnings that corporate agribusiness is the newest sign of the global Apocalypse.

All of this noise frankly makes my head hurt. It's a whole lot of folks who've done selective research, folks with the economic wherewithal to pay for food whatever price salves their ego, folks who sit with fawning media types - who know or understand less about food production than their sources - handing down declarations from their self-defined moral high ground.

Sour Profits Lead to Farmer Ownership in Sugar Business

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:46:55 -0500

Watch the video

During the late 1800s, a wealthy investor named Henry Oxnard was busy cultivating America into an agricultural powerhouse.

He's best known for his namesake Oxnard, Calif.-a city of nearly 200,000 people that boasts two Naval bases and is widely considered to be the world's strawberry and lima bean capital.

But, he made most of his money jumpstarting America's sugarbeet industry, which now spans 11 states. The modern-day industry is far different than it was in Oxnard's time when rich investors were lined up to pool money into sugar production.

In fact, the current scene is a polar opposite. Private investors skipped out on the beet business decades ago and left it for dead.

If the moneymen fled, why are we still enjoying delicious homegrown beet sugar in our morning coffee? Because farmers stepped up in a big way and bought the teetering companies.

Making Peanuts Nowadays

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:46:23 -0500

PORTALES, N.M.-Recessions usually mean big business for peanut producers as shoppers flock to low-cost, high-protein foods like peanut butter.

But fewer people have passed through the peanut butter aisle of the local Super Save grocery store since the highly publicized salmonella outbreak linked to Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). This has left businesses like Portales-based Sunland Inc. in an interesting position.

"One bad apple has spoiled consumer confidence," said Jimmie Shearer, CEO of Sunland, which produces high-end peanut butter varieties. "It's a shame our entire industry has been tainted by the actions of PCA."

Nationwide sales of jarred peanut butter dropped 13 percent in the month of February alone. The crisis has even hit Sunland's organic brands, which normally fetch top dollar because the peanuts used are grown under the strictest conditions.

Casting Blame and Cashing In-It's Grrrreat

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:46:05 -0500

MINNEAPOLIS-If Kevin Garnett's picture suddenly disappeared from the Wheaties box, most grocery shoppers would notice the absence of the former Timberwolves star. But if the amount of cereal within that box shrank by an ounce or two, few people would even realize it.

It's no wonder the Minneapolis-based General Mills chose the latter when the company trimmed overhead in 2007 to boost profits.

And when the company decided to charge more for the smaller box, few shoppers at the local Cub Foods grocery store even batted an eye at the $3.19 price tag because of brand loyalty.

When asked about paying more for less, General Mills-which also makes Cheerios and Total-uses a common excuse: higher input costs left them no choice.

This argument was logical in 2007 and part of 2008 when oil and ingredient costs were peaking. But why have high cereal prices stuck around when crop costs are plummeting and oil prices have fallen nearly $100 a barrel?

Farmer Profile: Barry Evans

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:45:54 -0500

Barry's Story

Name: Barry Evans
Title: CEO, Evans Farm
Age: 46
Location: Kress, Texas (pop. 772)
Claim to Fame: Considered a "giant agribusiness" by many urbanites

Highlights: This giant agribusiness is made up of Barry, his wife, three kids, and 73-year-old father.

Barry Evans is far from a rich corporate mogul, but gets called one nearly every day by the handful of zealots who seemingly want to return to the days of mule-drawn plows.

Barry finds the whole situation almost humorous because similar critics existed when his grandfather first purchased the Evans farm in the 1920s. Back then, people complained that "rich" farmers were ruining agriculture with new inventions like mechanized tractors, cotton harvesters, commercial fertilizer, and hybrid-seed.

Podcast: Combest Commentary

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:45:42 -0500

An audio introduction to The Hand that Feeds U.S. with Former House Ag Committee Chairman Larry Combest.

Farmers Hope to Grow Media Support with 'The Hand That Feeds U.S.' Project

info@thehandthatfeedsus.org — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:46:45 -0500

WASHINGTON (May 11, 2009)-America's farmers are extending an olive branch to the same urban media that have often been critical of agriculture, and some powerful U.S. lawmakers asked the nation's reporters in a letter today to give them a chance.

"It makes no sense that we're being demonized by many of the nation's top newspapers," said Linda Raun, a rice grower from Texas who is participating in The Hand That Feeds U.S., a new farmer-led project to improve relations with big-city reporters.