'Political controversy no fun for farmers'

The headline of this post comes from a headline of a commentary published in a recent Iowa Farmer Today. It is written by Blake Hurst, who grows no-till corn and soybeans in a family operation in Missouri.

In the commentary, which you can read here, Hurst takes on Michael Pollan, who recently penned an advice letter to the next President in New York Times Magazine.

Here's a sample from Hurst:

Best known for his book "The Omnivore’s Dilemma," Pollan is a leading thinker about food. He’s famous, and influential, and gloriously wrong. The recent run-up in food prices should have caused a problem for agriculture’s critics because they’ve long argued cheap food is responsible for obesity and putting Third World farmers out of business.

The only answer is to return to Eden, when farmers used their backs instead of tractors and lived in loving harmony with Mother Nature. Now that food is no longer "cheap," at least according to the national media, you would assume the problem and the solution would have to change. But, nope, we’re still responsible for obesity and we still are ruining the lives of farmers across the seas, and Eden still beckons.

Be sure to check out the commentary - it's a good read.