Slate: Big Agriculture Has Only Nature to Fear

In an article published in Slate magazine’s food issue, Grist food writer Tom Laskawy argues that industrial agriculture doesn’t have the Obama administration to fear -- the only thing Big Ag has to worry about is Mother Nature (drought, global warming, etc.)

Laskawy’s argument that Big Food shouldn’t worry about government or public safety concerns is disturbingly compelling. The $50 million organic farmers are promised this year is “no chump change,” as he puts it, “[b]ut it pales in comparison with the $11 billion conventional agriculture is estimated to receive in government payments this year—most of which, according to the Environmental Working Group, will go to the largest 10 percent of industrial farms.”

The farm lobby is as strong as ever; it's estimated that Big Food spends upwards of $64 million in campaign contributions each year, and as a result, they’ve still got much of Washington firmly in their pocket.

As for Big Food’s susceptibility to Mother Nature, Laskaway finds one potential hurdle in the dwindling water supply, and he argues that industrial agriculture is still completely dependent on fossil fuels, and it will have a tough row to hoe in a low-carbon world.

-Mark