Catch up on the latest news and analysis from EWG’s team of experts.
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California's Skewed Farm Subsidy Priorities
Environmental Working Group Senior Analyst Kari Hamerschlag used EWG's new farm subsidy database to take a deep, critical look at the subsidy system in California. She found (pdf) that although cotton...
Government's Continuing Bailout of Corporate Agriculture
By Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook Washington paid out a quarter of a trillion dollars in federal farm subsidies between 1995 and 2009, but to characterize the programs as either a "big...
Will Farm Subsidies be the Tea Partiers' Achilles' Heel?
It's too early to tell what the Tea Party movement's impact will be on the November elections, but there's no doubt that their noisy anti-big government message has barged into the nation's political...
Peterson Sends Positive Signals on Farm Bill
For years the Environmental Working Group has advocated for a more rational farm policy that would provide a better safety net for more American farmers. We've done this while also seeking to promote...
Bacon, Cheese and Chicken, Please – Hold the Bun.
If you've ever wished that one day there would be a place where you could grab a bacon and cheese pileup with no veggies, smashed between slabs of fried chicken instead of buns, here's good news.
US Digs a Hole with Cotton Subsidies, Then Jumps In
This week (April 6), US officials struck a deal aimed at staving off Brazilian trade retaliation for subsidies paid to American cotton growers. Brazil had won the right to impose tariffs and lift...
Sen. Lincoln’s Nutrition Plan Pits Kids Against Clean Water -- Needlessly
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) plans to mark up her Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 this week (March 24). The legislation would reauthorize child nutrition...
According to Big Ag, Organic Farming Means More Jobs
First, the heavily subsidized commodity crop growers complained when the Department of Agriculture dared to send out encouraging messages about local and organic farming. Next, a coalition of Big Ag...
This Little Piggy Has Questions About the Farmer's Market
How threatened is Agribiz by the baby steps the Department of Agriculture has taken recently in support of organic and local agriculture? Threatened enough that one big grower personally castigated...
Will Black Farmers Finally See Justice?
Today (Feb 15th) may be the President's Day holiday, but for the president of the National Black Farmer's Association (NBFA) it's the culmination of a remarkable push to bring justice to thousands of...
Scorn Storm Continues for Farm Subsidies
Trimming profit-ensuring farm subsidies to the largest growers of cotton, corn and rice continues to be a hot topic since president Obama announced his intentions to reform the wasteful programs...
Health Reform Should Begin at USDA
“The less we spend on food, the more we spend on health care,” author and food activist Michael Pollan said on Oprah. Today, Americans spend almost 20 cents of every dollar managing disease --...
Budget Freeze Focus Turns to Farm Subsidies
Tonight, President Obama will announce a budget freeze as part of his State of the Union address. The New York Times' Jackie Calmes described today (Jan. 27) what specific programs will be hit: "The...
We Subsidize Corporate Farms, Why Not Baseball?
The Wall Street Journal's Real Time Economics blog interviewed Minnesota Twins' President Jerry Bell (subscription required) and asked him about the Twins' new taxpayer-funded stadium.
Farm Bureau, the Most Ideologically Contorted Organization in America
The American Farm Bureau convention irresponsibly passed a resolution opposing climate change legislation on January 12th. Laughably, at the same time they threw down the gauntlet on climate...
More Churchill, Less Chamberlain
Reliable Big Ag accomplice Collin Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, made clear last week that he plans to vote NO on the pending climate bill, after signaling as much this spring...
Gold-Plated Back Scratchers
The Center For America Progress's Eric Alterman and Mickey Ehrlich have written an interesting piece on recent legislation and the impact that campaign contributions from well-funded special interests...
Will Big Corn Call Katie Couric a Flake Too?
The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric aired a piece on Thursday (Jan. 8 ) called Where America Stands on Obesity. The report cites many factors for the nation's current obesity epidemic, including...
Michael Pollan Talks Subsidies on the Daily Show
Michael Pollan made an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart Monday night to promote his latest book, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. He came out swinging at Big Ag and the subsidies doled out...
Rep. Michele Bachmann -- Having it Both Ways?
A flurry of blog postings in the last two days have pointed out that the conservative Minnesota congresswoman, who has regularly attacked President Obama's health care and foreclosure relief proposals...
