This year's NWA queen (no, not that NWA, this NWA) went to Washington to push for produce subsidies.
From an Oct. 4th NYTimes article on produce growers' recent foray into Farm Bill lobbying:
For decades, even as commodity growers collected hundreds of billions from the government, produce farmers wanted nothing to do with Washington. Concentrated in the Sun Belt states of California, Texas and Florida, they enjoyed healthy prices for their crops and managed to grow them with no government subsidies.
Farmers who want nothing to do with Washington? Farmers who would rather grow food than grovel for crumbs from politicians? More unbelievably, farmers who are capable of growing crops WITHOUT government subsidies?? That's just crazy talk. What's the world coming to when a vegetable grower on 50 acres can do something that Cargill or ConAgra can't?
Of course, with $30 billion up for grabs, you'd have to be crazy not to belly up to the table for your share, wouldn't you?
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