This hilarious video does a great job of laying out the basics. Big corporations and special interests have been co-opting the Farm Bill for decades. The result? Subsidies only go to 25% of all farmers, in fact 75% of all crop subsidy payouts go just 10% of American farmers. Subsidies are provided for only five crops leading to overproduction and cheap uber-refined sweeteners and fatty oils like hydrogenated corn-syrup and refined soy-bean oil. Worst of all, the dumping of all the excess crop in other countries destroys the market for native farmers. The current Farm Bill helps Big Corporate Ag like ConAgra and Monsanto do what they love to do: make sure the rich get richer and poor get poorer.

A fair Farm Bill would close loopholes so the legal system could enforce subsidy limits, spreading the subsidy money more fairly among farmers. It would subsidize crops in a way that encourages the production of healthy organic foods instead of unhealthy diabetes and cancer causing substances. A fair Farm Bill would ensure that farmers in Africa, South America and Asia do not suffer when the price of their corn or rice plummets because of subsidized American overproduction. A fair Farm Bill would be fairer and healthier for everyone in the world.

The Farm Bill is only re-written every 5 years. So take action now! Sign OxFam America’s and HealthyFarmBill.org’s open letters to Congress and spread the word far and wide!

Supersize Me is a documentary by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock in which he lives on nothing but McDonald’s for one month, following 3 simple rules:

1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!)
2) No supersizing unless offered
3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

In the end, his health deteriorates much faster than any doctors predicted. Not surprising, the golden arches responded to the theory that “if you eat too many carrots you’ll turn orange” with a few changes to the menu and a website arguing against the drastic health deterioration Spurlock experienced. While I find it hard to believe McDonald’s has gained any substantial ground towards the healthy end, it is also equally delusional to believe anyone pulls through those golden arches believing they’ve found a balanced and healthy meal. Can we ultimately villanize only the fast food chains? Do we as consumers not have a bit our increasing weight to carry? McDonald’s, along with all other fast food restaurants, cater to our hectic lives, they are convenient and taste good. Is there no alternative? Is the hope of a place to purchase healthy, organic and local value meals beyond imaging?

Much to Lawrencians joy, Hillary Brown has answered this question in Local Burger, “the next generation of burger joints!” Local Burger “buys its naturally raised meats and vegetables from 45 local vendors, most of which are located in Douglas County or a 20-mile radius of Lawrence.” Brown, along with the Sundance channel, also began a 30 day stint featuring Daniel Fisher, a confessed fast food junkie. Inspired by Spurlock’s adventure eating only McDonalds, Brown and Fisher took a different spin. Fisher would follow Spurlock’s rules, replacing the restaurant with Local Burger. Similar to Spurlock, Fisher received a full physical before and after the experiement.

The final results were weight loss of about 23 pounds and a dramatic drop in cholesterol from 285 to 166. Fisher learned to eat better, but not less. “I think it’s time for people to be aware of what they’re eating,” Brown said. “It doesn’t have to taste bad to be healthy, and it doesn’t have to be fat-free to be healthy.”

In addition to having some fantastic meals, they also host a weekly meat market from local farmers. And Brown is well aware of the impact typical restaurants leave upon the environment, and has addressed by sending all food scarps to a local farm for composting and recycling, as well as the carbon emissions saved from buying locally! They are continuing to strive towards the future with the following goals:

We have our hearts set on a super-high efficiency dishwasher - it’s all about saving a little H2O!

We hope to be using biodegradable to-go containers in the near future

We are looking into the use of solar panels and other ways to be energy efficeint at Local Burger

Also, be sure to check out The Green, a new series on the Sundance channel. Local Burger is featured on April 17th at 8 pm as part of the episode “Eat.”

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream made a tasty announcement yesterday. Beginning April 17th Ben & Jerry’s will be using fair trade certified vanilla extract and cocoa powder to flavor their plain vanilla and chocolate ice creams. While the rest of the ice cream’s ingredients will continue to be conventionally acquired this is another step toward growing fair trade. The vanilla and chocolate ice creams will join Ben & Jerry’s coffee ice creams as using fair trade ingredients. Only slightly less cool than fair trade ice cream? Free cones. Ben & Jerry’s is celebrating by offering anyone and everyone a free ice cream cone on April 17th. Try one of the fair trade flavors and encourage the company to keep following this trend!

In an exciting development for the fair trade movement progressive grocer Whole Foods announced today that it will partner with US fair trade certifier TransFairUSA in a program it calls the Whole Trade Guarantee.

“With our shoppers’ growing concern about ethical and responsible trade and with our Company’s increasing scale and scope, the time is right for Whole Foods Market to help make more of an impact,” said Whole Foods Market’s co-founder and CEO John Mackey. “We have a long track record concerning ethical business practices, equitable pay for Team Members and suppliers, safe working environments, and love and respect for all people and the Earth. We are extending that concern to the global community by bringing products from developing areas to the marketplace in a way that is a win for the producers and their families, for our shoppers, for the environment, and for poverty stricken communities where we do business.”

The fair trade commitment was informally announced a little over a month ago during a sold-out discussion between author and food activist Michael Pollan and John Mackey at UC Berkeley. I mentioned this discussion in a previous post and I highly recommend watching it.

It is no secret that fair trade has burst into the mainstream over the past five years. The fair trade movement has its roots in consumer activism dating back to the 1960’s in Eurpoe and North America but it is the dramatic growth of fair trade sales in the past five years that has brought the movement to the attention of a broader audience. The numbers are impressive.
Sales of fair trade certified food in Britain alone reached more than $500 million last year, up 46 percent from the previous year.

Some grocers in Britain are going 100% fair trade whenever possible in response to the increased demand and this move has only helped to drive even more demand. Britain and Europe have historically led the way in conscious consumption but the US has always followed closely behind. John Mackey, CEO of US based grocer Whole Foods, announced last month that the progressive grocery stores will be offering increasingly more fairly traded produce. The announcement came at a sold-out discussion between author and food activist Michael Pollan and John Mackey at UC Berkeley (you can watch it online here).

Companies like Whole Foods are helping drive an impressive and sustained increase of fair trade sales in North America. Overall fair trade sales, including handcrafts as well as foods, coffee and tea, grew at an annual rate of 48% (pdf) from 2000-2005. Europe saw a 38% increase (pdf) from 2004-2005 in overall fair trade sales.

All of this, the steady growth of fair trade sales, 700 people paying to attend a discussion between an author and a grocer, companies committing wholly to fair trade, proves a growing awareness amongst consumers and corporations of the impact our spending has on other people and on the environment. It is an encouraging trend that I hope continues.