New leader's organic tendencies raise fears over farm subsidies(UK)

[nosmokes]

wow. the tories are jumping on the organic bandwagon. butter my butt and call me a biscuit. the strange things that happen when you have a parliamentarian(sp?) democracy and coalition and listening, really listening, is part of politics.
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original

New leader's organic tendencies raise fears over farm subsidies

By Charles Clover Environment Editor
(Filed: 06/01/2006)

David Cameron aligned the Tories with buyers of organic vegetables and baby food last night, leaving conventional farmers in the belief that his party would support further subsidy cuts for agriculture.

Mr Cameron chose to speak at a reception to mark the 60th anniversary of the Soil Association, the organic farming body, rather than at the Oxford Farming Conference, conventional agriculture's flagship meeting.

He said that he wanted the Conservative Party, like the Soil Association, "to look at farming and the environment in the round rather than in separate boxes".

He added: "People are increasingly interested in what they eat, how it's grown, the effect on our environment and whether it's sustainable. The Soil Association has played a huge role in raising awareness about these issues.
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complete articlehere

[NJCher]

1. why should we subsidize unsafe agricultural operations?

This is good news from a couple of standpoints. First, government is paying attention to the concerns of constituents, something that we've not seen in a long time.

Second, as in my subject line, I see no reason to subsidize questionable agricultural practices. The same money could be spent for research and development in organic practices.


Cher