WASHINGTON (June 19, 2007)—An investigation by FarmPolicyFacts.org into the new Environmental Working Group (EWG) farm subsidy database has uncovered a dirty little secret that radical environmental groups likely hoped would never surface. Former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen, mega-lobbyist Gerald Cassidy, and many other wealthy subsidy recipients in EWG’s database are only there because they…
By: USA Rice Federation Every day we see a steady stream of propaganda about U.S. farm subsidies being responsible for the myriad ills associated with world poverty. With the farm bill on the Senate floor, we’ve seen editorials in newspapers and magazines—even church newsletters—addressed to members of Congress, declaring that farmers be stripped of the…
ST. LOUIS, MO – While Brazilian officials were in Geneva arguing that U.S. subsidies were depressing world cotton prices, the Brazilian government was busy selling government-held cotton stocks on the Brazilian market in order to lower internal Brazilian cotton prices according to USDA reports. “The actions of Brazil’s own government in April and May of…
WASHINGTON (June 7, 2007)—Every member of the U.S. Senate today received a handbook highlighting the billions of dollars in subsidies foreign agricultural producers receive around the world. The research, compiled in the Guide to Foreign Crop Subsidies and Tariffs, shows that compared to other major global producers—developing and developed alike—the U.S. ranks near the bottom…
By: Bryan Hest, Steve Williams, Jerry Demmer Farming does a lot more than just put food in our bellies and clothes on our backs. It literally is an economic engine that drives America. Most people are shocked when they learn that the food and fiber industry employs 20% of the country’s workforce and contributes $3.5…
By: Norm Knochel I recently saw a clever bumper sticker in farm country that read, “If you like foreign oil, you’ll love foreign food.” It’s brilliant because it makes you think about something most people take for granted—feeding ourselves. Unlike Americans, Europeans don’t take dinner for granted because they knew starvation and food shortages after…
A recent New York Times article, “Catfish With a Side of Scombroid,” informed readers that: “…the salmonella frequently detected in Asia-farmed fish came from fecal bacteria in the grow-out ponds. The fish, in other words, were bathing in human and animal feces.” Given the influx of negative newspaper headlines like this, it’s no surprise that…