As I said in my first post, rather than going through the comment section and responding one-by-one, I'm going to respond here on the blog instead. I'll try to get to as many of your comments and questions as possible -- and please feel free to leave more comments on this thread, on what I've written here, on one of my previous posts, or on my Food and Farm Bill of Rights.

Chance for Reform

Several readers have asked about the chance of success for a more rational farm bill, modeled perhaps on Farm 21 by Representatives Kind and Flake.

I am absolutely convinced that with the groundswell of support there can be significant improvements to the Farm Bill. I am not naïve about the power of vested interests or the difficulties in making changes because of our legislative system. But the winds are blowing in our direction. One posting said we’d be lucky if a quarter of these proposals were enacted. It’s important to realize that the current farm system has been 3/4 of a century in the making and that this bill will sow the seeds of farm and food policy in America for generations to come. We are fighting not just for improvements now, but for sound agriculture policy for this century.

Small Farmers

In response to mike42's question about small farmers, Here is a summary of our “Local Food and Farm Act” that would help accomplish some of the goals in our farm bill of rights. We invite your review and any comments you would suggest to improve it.

Trade

Reader CountZero writes:

I want to ask you about how this farm bill will affect our trade priorities, specifically with respect to the Doha round of the WTO. The last farm bill was a slap in the face to the rest of the world and further signaled how the Bush Administration insists on unilateral policies, even when they are highly counter-productive. As anyone who follows this issue knows, this bill is one of the last opportunities to put the moribund Doha round back on track. Can you explain to us how you plan on getting us back to the bargaining table, so that we can help the 900 million poor farmers in third world countries?

I couldn’t agree more with you on the importance of the Farm Bill and the need for an international farm negotiation on trade policy. Our flawed farm bill is one of our biggest obstacles to honest trade. One of the reasons we’re fighting so hard for reform this summer is to send a signal to the world that the US is not going to take advantage of some of the world’s poorest nations with our ill advised subsidies.

I have taken every opportunity in meetings with foreign officials, business leaders, NGOs and religious groups to rally support for both the U.S. and Europe to exercise leadership. Getting these policies right will have a greater impact on alleviating poverty and hunger than anything I can imagine.

Energy Independence

Some have taken understandable exception to my terminology of energy indpeendence, pointing out our current patterns of energy use are so heavily dependent on oil imports. I understand the skepticism but stand by the goal of energy independence.

If we are to deal with the costs and consequences of our addiction to expensive and damaging foreign oil, we need to implement a long-term strategy that actually helps us achieve independence.

In the short term we must focus on aggressive conservation and fuel efficiency, development of alternative energy sources – wind, solar, biomass – and technological breakthroughs like plug-in hybrids. All have the potential to move us along this path much faster than people realize. Done right, within ten years new buildings could be net energy producers and we could radically change the energy and carbon footprint of transportation with greater reliance on sound land use, passenger rail transportation, and basic approaches like walking and biking. Given how much energy we waste, we must work to use existing technology and achieve technological breakthroughs in energy generation and utilization.

We should not be afraid of working aggressively towards this goal. I’m not saying it will be easy or quick, but it’s possible and important.