01 Dec 2005
Busy and Cold

Wish I had more time to blog, but things are really hoppin' around here. I'm finishing up a project for my remaining software client, setting up a new recording paradigm for Odin LIVES!, and trying to get ready for the weekend up at Dull's. To top it all off, we once more have all three truck running (well, one of them's a new [used] F-250) and the chicks I've been brooding since August are starting to lay. Just pullet eggs right now, of course, but that's OK, as I sell those for $3/doz. to noodle makers. They're richer than regular eggs, and make superb egg noodles.

If I get back in time (I'm heading to western Ohio) tomorrow I'll try to post a bit, but if not, well, Kris has promised more pix of the draft goats over the weekend. And I'm looking for an appropriate hat - I think I'll forgo the whole suit, unless they make real insulated ones, as the temperature won't get above freezing all weekend, and the wind is projected to be quite gusty.

00:00 /Home | 4 comments | permanent link

Food subsidies are damaging health

Un-fucking believable! Leave it to a Swede!

Government, through the subsidies that this study condemns, has created the problem(s) that the study describes. So what does the author propose as a solution?

But even if subsidies are phased out, global supplies will probably continue to be higher than "healthy" demand for many years to come, she adds. Therefore, as a second step, internationally binding conventions like the one on tobacco are needed.
These should include issues such as marketing of energy dense foods, availability to children, labelling, and tax and price measures.

So the solution to the problems created by law is: ta-da! more law!

Of course, this will only lead to more problems, albeit different ones. Which will no doubt cry out for further law to "reform" them. What we really need is less law, not more of it. We need repeal, not reform. We need to get rid of subsidies, and not just agricultural ones, either. Wal-Mart is one of the most subsidized companies on the planet. We throw tax dollars at every level to the largest companies we can find, just like we toss billions in ag subsidies to the largest factory farms.

Give us suckers an even break, guys! Or at least a level playing field. You'll be surprised at what small businesses could really accomplish if left unfettered and unaided. That's all I'd ever ask for.

Overproduction of food in rich countries is fuelling health problems worldwide, argues a public health expert from Sweden in this week's BMJ.

(link) [EurekAlert! - Breaking News]

00:00 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link