Doing a bit more research on the Alaska Food Policy Council and found this News Miner article from last January. Found it posted here, http://snras.blogspot.com/2010/01/usda-forum-focuses-on-rural-development.html, in a blog about USDA rural development plans. "“We need planning and food assessments, and to identify needs and opportunities.” She suggested creating food policy councils in each city and village across the state." (She is Susan Willsrud, farm director at Calypso Farm and Ecology Center, a nonprofit educational working farm near Fairbanks)
The forum included brainstorming sessions to discuss what Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has described as the “four pillars” of new job creation — renewable energy, broadband internet access, responding to climate change and harnessing local food production. http://www.newsminer.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sen-+Begich+says+more+stimulus+funds+are+coming+to+Alaska%20&id=5563001&instance=home_news_window_left_top_4Check out the comments on the above newsminer article, almost makes me miss Fairbanks.
I feel so much better now. Not!
ReplyDeleteRenewable energy, Ag is low profit return. How will farmers compete for energy?
Broadband internet access, keep the masses entertained? How does this increase local food production?
Responding to climate change, what does this mean? Ag producers grow what has the greatest profit margin already.
Harnessing local food production, does this mean government mandates on what the ag producer grows? Or the government will be the sole market and set the prices? Just what was the collatteral for government Ag loans programs?
WWII had rationing. Vietnam had wage and price control. Can it get worse? Stayed tuned.
We've assumed the intelligencia infers intelligence.