FINGER LAKES TIMES (GENEVA, NEW YORK)/PROGRESSIVE MEDIA PROJECT -- Anthony Pahnke, an assistant professor of International Relations at San Francisco State University, is vice president of the Family Farm Defenders; Jim Goodman is an organic dairy farmer from Wonewoc, Wisconsin. This column was written for the Progressive Media Project, which is run by The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.
“Good farm policy works for rural people by stabilizing prices, encouraging the growth of rural communities and helping farm families deal with natural disasters,” Pahnke writes. “This last point is particularly relevant now, as fires rage in the West, drought grips much of the South, and tornadoes, hurricanes and floods destroy communities around the country.
“Yet instead of creating sensible farm policy that could lessen the effects of climate change and keep farmers on the land, our government promotes environmentally and economically disastrous overproduction.”