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Farm Bill Gets Star Treatment

Like a legislative Al Gore, the lumbering Farm Bill has traded its wonky exterior for a touch of glam. All sorts of people outside the agriculture industry, from foodies to singers and authors, have called on Congress to reform the commodity-crop-loving farm system. Move over, Willie. The global anti-poverty organization Oxfam has weighed in, as has the Environmental Working Group. Authors Michael

Like a legislative Al Gore, the lumbering Farm Bill has traded its wonky exterior for a touch of glam. All sorts of people outside the agriculture industry, from foodies to singers and authors, have called on Congress to reform the commodity-crop-loving farm system. Move over, Willie.

The global anti-poverty organization Oxfam has weighed in, as has the Environmental Working Group. Authors Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver have made public utterances.

Even the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution in June urging changes to the bill, including more money to support conservation and the promotion of healthful diets. This is a big step, since urban representatives used to dismiss the Farm Bill as more of a rural issue.

“In the past, they've thought the Farm Bill to be about farmers and not so much about the food that people eat in their communities,” said Kari Hamerschlag, policy director at the California Coalition for Food and Farming.