This issue gets little coverage but needs to be explained in such a simple way that people not only understand it but demand change from their representatives. This op-ed piece does a great job of outlining the problem.

an op ed with a viewpoint that points out structural barriers industrial agriculture has built into our farm bill and ag laws and regulations.

It sounds like it is well past the time to eliminate government subsides to agriculture, and the government control that follows in their wake. Where are Republicans that use to rail against these subsides?

This good story leaves out another reason for trying to protect locally grown fruit and vegetables: something like 90% (?) of the cost of supermarket food can be traced to oil/gas costs for fertilizer, pesticides, processing, refrigeration, transportation etc. Local foods may significantly reduce your costs of food in the near future.

This is a story where one has to presume that the facts - what happened to this farmer and the provisions of the farm bill, are accurate. There's no reason to presume they aren't. The problem is that most of us have no connection to the land, and that 'farm bills' produce glazed over confusion (warranted) and yawns. It's not the kind of thing we e mail our representatives about, it's not glamorous, and small farmers don't have lobbies. But agribusiness, even before everyone started growing corn for ethanol, represents a real threat to our food supply because its agricultural practices wear out soil and make it less and less productive while also polluting water supplies.

Against small local farmers. For large corporation farming.

Despite what other reviewers may think, dishonesty, whether material or intellectual, is significant and important.

This story sheds light on the insidious machinations of Big Agriculture to prevent the very thing that needs to happen to make agriculture more sustainable and improve our diets -- locally sourced food.