~ 'Merca ~

Subsidies go where the money is - where money talks. And in most cases, those subsidies  support more corn - which in our unfortunate capital-driven economy, is the prime product receiving a large turn-over due to corporations like Coca Cola and Perdue, to name a few, which use it as a cheap by-product to either pump up The Soda, or feed The Chickens, and also have the cash to pay high priced lobbyists in Washington.

And yes, produce from outside the US is cheaper (to the immediate dollars in the wallets of our pockets, but not to the dollars of our taxes as we pay for the petrol needed for exorbitant transportation costs). Our tastes Are extravagant, as we continue learning about new sugar items from the Amazon, or new teas from the Himalayas.

Some people ask what comes first: the chicken or the egg (no pun intended). I.e do we slim down our demand for expensive imported products and high fructose products, and therefore show gov't why  $$ must go to the production of local produce (this for example, means fewer if no bananas in the winter!); or does gov't need to *miraculously* stop promoting corn subsidies to in turn curb our population's addiction to manufactured sugars, and corn fed cattle?

Um, the former.

So as we adjust our eating habits...

'Here's An Easy One...'

Vows by Congressional Republicans to slash billions from the federal budget at a time when joblessness is high and the economy needs stimulus are reckless. But here is one big-ticket saving that all members of Congress should get behind: cutting the billions of dollars in farm subsidies that distort food prices, encourage over farming and inflate the price of land... more