The Hand that Feeds U.S.

May 26, 2009

Farmers Take Pro-Ag Message to the Big Apple

NEW YORK (May 26, 2009)—Members of The Hand That Feeds U.S. gathered in New York City last Thursday and Friday for face-to-face meetings with urban journalists, including reporters from the New York Times, CNN, FOX News and Marketplace radio.

“We met with media outlets that have not always been favorable to production agriculture or farm policy, but that’s the whole point of this campaign,” said former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest. “These meetings went a long way in building a lasting relationship with key reporters and ensuring they have accurate information about America’s farmers at their fingertips.”
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U.S. Farmers Rank Low on Global Subsidy Scale

LUBBOCK, Texas—Compared to other major agricultural producers-both developed and developing countries-America ranks near the bottom of the subsidization and tariff scale, according to a global subsidy handbook compiled in April by Texas Tech University.

Conducted by researchers at the university's Cotton Economics Research Institute (CERI), "the study highlights the often overlooked fact that all countries, regardless of size, protect their agricultural producers-and generally do so far more than we do in the United States," explained CERI director Dr. Darren Hudson.
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Big Grocery Bills Meet Big Lobbying Dollars

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It's not often that a United States Senator becomes so enraged with a trade association that he'll march to the Senate floor and rail on the group for more than half an hour.

It's even less common that a senior statesman will completely unearth the dark underbelly of the DC spin industry during such a heated tirade.

But that's exactly what happened in May 2008 when Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) berated the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) for spending buckets of money to manufacture a national food versus fuel debate.
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