Tomorrow the face of government cheese could change forever.  Or more likely the face of agricultural policies for small farmers, the guys we depend on for cheese.  Most New York City residents are not likely to be thinking about what the candidates will do for small farmers- but we all should be.  All of those purveyors who you regularly buy from at the Greenmarket are hanging on by a string while agribusiness tries to swallow them up. 

       Strong support of small farmers is good for our wallets, stomachs and the environment.  The government should be subsidizing small farms to encourage local economies- for us, the general tristate area and New England.  Most of our American cheeses hail from the great state of Vermont.

    So then, what do the two candidates have to say about small farms?  Well, nothing too clear.

 Senator John McCain believes that, “Farming and agriculture production is part of the backbone of our great country. As president, I will support addressing the larger needs of the farming community abiding by the same standards of common sense and fiscal restraint as demonstrated by our nation’s hardworking families.”

Obama said, “If Washington continues policies that work against America’s family farmers, our rural communities will fall further behind — and so will America. But if we reject the politics that has shut ordinary folks out, we can create a new story for rural America…”

 

Upon further reading on both of the candidates’ websites they actually tow a similar line.  Both promise to cut down on subsidies to agribusiness, change tariffs and put money into rural economies.  Hopefully this means cutting back on the chemically fertilized monoculture type of farm the government currently endorses with such energy and furvor.  The one difference is that Obama wants to work towards regionally supported agriculture.  McCain will push for freer markets and the reduction of trade barriers.  No real surprise there, at least for me, that Obama is the locavore of the bunch. 

    Where is this all going?  What does it have to do with cheese?  Well our farmers need us and they also need the government.  Farm insurance is largely dependent on the government.  A bad season, a disaster, illness can ruin a farmer’s livelihood.  In turn all of that local, organic and fresh food we city folk love can vanish as quickly as it arrived.  Those guys over at Slow Food keep telling us to “Vote with your fork,” they have a point, a big one and the values embodied by small scale agriculture depend on it.