It supports commodity crops grown for animal feed but considers fruits and vegetables to be “specialty” crops deserving only token support. It favors Big Agriculture over small pesticides, fertilizers, and genetically modified crops over those raised organically and sustainably and some regions of the country-notably the South and Midwest-over others. Beyond providing an abundance of inexpensive food, the current farm bill addresses practically none of the other goals. Overall, they advocated aligning agricultural policy with nutrition, health, and environmental policy-a tall order by any standard, but especially so given current political and economic realities. Their answers covered the territory: ensure enough food for the population at an affordable price produce a surplus for international trade and aid provide farmers with a sufficient income protect farmers against the vagaries of weather and volatile markets promote regional, seasonal, organic, and sustainable food production conserve soil, land, and forest protect water and air quality, natural resources, and wildlife raise farm animals humanely and provide farm workers with a living wage and decent working conditions. In the first class meeting, I asked students to suggest what an ideal farm bill should do. My students came from programs in nutrition, food studies, public health, public policy, and law, all united in the belief that a smaller scale, more regionalized, and more sustainable food system would be healthier for people and the planet. The farm bill supports farmers, of course, but also specifies how the United States deals with such matters as conservation, forestry, energy policy, organic food production, international food aid, and domestic food assistance. In the fall of 2011, I taught a graduate food studies course at New York University devoted to the farm bill, a massive and massively opaque piece of legislation passed most recently in 2008 and up for renewal in 2012. Utopian Dream: A New Farm Bill Marion Nestle ▪ Spring 2012
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