DEUT747 Our modern industrial food system, centered around policies like the Farm Bill, succeeds tremendously at producing corn and soy, the basic sources of much of our caloric intake, cheaply and efficiently. The evolution of the Farm Bill to its modern incarnation as an omnibus policy propping up cheap food makes sense in light of its origins--a time when supporting small farmers and growing their food supply were of vital national importance. Today our nation produces mass quantities of food--enough to feed everyone in the United States with plenty to spare—on limited land. … The importance of a stable and abundant food supply should not be overlooked or understated. After all, ensuring that everyone has enough food to eat as a Jewish value exhorted in the Torah and supported in the midrash: “When you are asked in the world-to-come, ‘What was your work?’ and you answer, ‘I fed the hungry,’ you will be told, ‘This is the gate of the Lord, enter into it, you who have fed the hungry’” (Midrash T’hillim 118:17). With government support for efficient production of cheap food, we can feed people not only in our country, but also around the world. This policy speaks clearly to food as a basic human right, no person should go hungry, and when there are people in need, we are obligated to help. In Deuteronomy 15:7-11 we are clearly commanded that when there is a poor person among us, we must not turn away, but rather we must provide as much help as is needed.... If the goal is to provide affordable and abundant sustenance efficiently, then the Farm Bill is a case study in successful public policy. … However, our food system and the policies that shape it have come under an enormous amount of criticism in recent years from the environmental, economic justice, and International Development communities. Under Farm Bill policies, our nation's agricultural system produces more food (mostly corn) than ever before, but it is becoming increasingly clear that this system has a wide variety of adverse and unintended consequences. The challenges of our modern food system is maintaining this unprecedented level of productivity without destroying our environment and causing a vast array of other unintended consequences for global health and hunger. As Michael Pollan explains in reference to our current federal food policy, “This focus on quantity may have made sense in a time of food scarcity, but today it gives us a school-lunch program that feeds chicken nuggets and Tater Tots to overweight and diabetic children.” The negative impact on health goes hand in hand with the unprecedented energy consumption associated with global food distribution, the greenhouse gases spewing from factory farms, and the negative impact on farmers in the developing world. Having enough food for all--and ensuring that those most in need have access to the most essential resource for survival--is an important, and deeply Jewish, goal. However we also value environmental stewardship and sustainability and can see that, among other negative effects, our industrial agricultural system despoils our environment and degrades our land so that the future food growth may be inhibited. The earliest verses of Genesis include the clear exhortation “to work [the earth] and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15), not just to use our resources to bring forth what we need--namely, food--but to be thoughtful guardians of our planet for current and future generations. (By Michael Namath and Rachel Cohen, “RAISING OUR VOICES FOR FOOD JUSTICE”)
SHOW FULL EXCERPT