posted February 25, 2021 10:50 PM            

This feel good story is chock full of dystopian goodies, just dog whistles galore, but this one is my fav ...

Richard Sharp, the chairman of the BBC and a former Goldman Sachs banker, bought two for his sons, now 28 and 26, and invested in the company after he tried on his first coat. “My son who is in New York City wore it all winter, even though he is very antimaterialistic, anticapitalist,” he said. “It is discreet enough.”

posted February 28, 2021 01:11 PM            

Anyway, here we are ....
http://humanities.wustl.edu/features/Corinna-Treitel-Eating-Nature
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-14/natural-food-and-nazis-fascism/10236768
http://www.fastcompany.com/90593995/theres-a-disturbing-nexus-of-orgasupre macistsnic-food-and-white-

Interesting huh? Some fine pivoting there.

posted February 28, 2021 01:25 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by shura:
aka A time machine peek into US style socialism circa 2035
http://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/25/fashion/norwegian-wool-coats.html?auth=login -email&login=email

This feel good story is chock full of dystopian goodies, just dog whistles galore, but this one is my fav ...

Richard Sharp, the chairman of the BBC and a former Goldman Sachs banker, bought two for his sons, now 28 and 26, and invested in the company after he tried on his first coat. “My son who is in New York City wore it all winter, even though he is very antimaterialistic, anticapitalist,” he said. “It is discreet enough.”

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posted February 28, 2021 02:54 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by shura:
several yrs ago I noticed a burgeoning trend among a handful of extreme far left groups of highlighting various domestic agricultural policies of the Nazi party. Generally, most of us associate vegetarianism, organic food, etc with the Left. That was true for a time, but the hippies are no more and the modern Left is driven almost exclusively by urban forces. Hence, their disdain for anything "rural." How to condemn family farmers and healthy living? Well, call it white supremacy ofc!

Anyway, here we are ....
http://humanities.wustl.edu/features/Corinna-Treitel-Eating-Nature
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-14/natural-food-and-nazis-fascism/10236768
http://www.fastcompany.com/90593995/theres-a-disturbing-nexus-of-orgasupre macistsnic-food-and-white-

Interesting huh? Some fine pivoting there.

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posted March 02, 2021 01:49 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by BlueRoamer:
I think shura is projecting her own sense of inferiority into city dwellers.

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Not sure I understand this bit of pop psychology, BR. Do please clarify.

posted March 02, 2021 01:52 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by teasel:
I don’t know anyone from the left, who has disdain for anything rural.

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posted March 02, 2021 02:00 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Chanterelle:
Wow, nice lineup! (Referring to Shura’s most recent post — this is what happens when I try to write more than 2 sentences.)
I’ve never actually heard the term ‘biopolitics’ before, though I am familiar with the historical background. For contrast, here’s something more along the lines of what most small farmers I know actually believe, regardless of where they land on the political spectrum.

“(But) the food chain we have now is not designed to feed people. In line with the modern cure-all—the allegedly free global market—it is designed to produce the maximum amount of cash in the shortest time. Stated thus, our approach to our most important material endeavour seems unbelievably crass—but that is how things are nonetheless. The global free market might be good for some things (perhaps we get better computers and warships that way) but for farming, and hence for humanity as a whole, it is disastrous. The simplistic business rules that may (or may not) apply to other enterprises are fatal to Enlightened Agriculture and so, since we depend on agriculture absolutely, they are proving fatal for us.” http://www.colintudge.com/articles/article12.php

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Good quote and I agree. Could easily be condemned as coming from a position of white privilege tho

Seen this?

Problem: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/27/farmers-markets-called-racist-habits-of-white-peop/

posted March 02, 2021 02:02 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Belage:
I find the coat interesting and I wouldn't mind buying it but that quote is pure BS.

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It's lovely and no doubt well made coat.

Nearly everything wrong with the world is in that one quote. It's a thing of beauty tbh.

posted March 02, 2021 09:14 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by shura:
Good quote and I agree. Could easily be condemned as coming from a position of white privilege tho

Seen this?

Problem: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/27/farmers-markets-called-raci st-habits-of-white-peop/

Solution: http://farmersmarketcoalition.org/beyond-equ ity-statements-black-food-leaders-building-an-anti-racist-toolkit-for-farmers-markets/

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posted March 04, 2021 06:19 AM            

The first Food Stamp Program (1939-1943): “An effort to manage agricultural surpluses, the first food stamps came off the presses April 20, 1939... The idea for the first food stamp program has been credited to various people, most notably Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace and the program's first administrator, Milo Perkins.[6] Of the program, Perkins said, "We got a picture of a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a bridge across that chasm.” http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program

Then we had a war economy for a while, so we didn’t need it anymore...

The idea was revived by JFK on campaign in West Virginia,; LBJ passed the Food Stamp Act of 1964, which was replaced by the Food Stamp Act of 1977. The stated purpose of this legislation: “To strengthen the agricultural economy; to help to achieve a fuller and more effective use of food abundances; to provide for improved levels of nutrition among low-income households through a cooperative Federal-State program of food assistance to be operated through normal channels of trade; and for other purposes.” http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/leghistory/food-stamp-act-1977

Edit: I should also add that from 1971-1976 we had Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz telling American farmers to “get big or get out.”
http://quote.org/quote/get-big-or-get-out-640225

Skipping forward to 1988-2004, the time period when paper food stamps were being phased out and replaced with EBT cards. I can’t find any sources that confirm this right now, but I remember having read that direct-to-consumer food stamp sales declined by almost 70% nationwide during this time because operating a POS machine became a huge barrier to participation for many small farmers who had previously operated by loading up a truck full of produce and parking on a city street corner once a week.

Anyhoo, yes there are plenty of farmer’s markets that accept SNAP these days, and some of them offer great incentives, usually through grants provided by the state Department of Agriculture. Sometimes those grants will even cover a modest salary for the market manager who has to create and implement a scrip system for tracking purchases and allotting payments to each vendor at the market. And yes, sometimes the machines are ‘free’, as in the state covers the cost of leasing the machine from the credit card company who permanently owns every single EBT-authorized POS machine in existence and can repossess it any time the volume of sales drops below a certain threshold. That’s part of the reason they offer those “double bucks” programs — if they don’t have enough SNAP income on the books, someone will decide it’s not worth the effort to keep that option available at all.

In 2019, 53% of all SNAP benefits were redeemed at “superstores” and <0.1% at farmers markets. http://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/snap-boosts-retailers-and-local-economies

posted March 04, 2021 08:19 AM            

1. Many people are unaware that this option is available to them.

posted March 04, 2021 08:47 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Randall:
Yes, the state SNAP offices provide wired EBT equipment, but the USDA is working on a federal contract to provide free wireless EBT technology to all farmers' markets that apply to accept SNAP. The Double Up Your Bucks is a program that is included in and funded by the Farm Bill. Its purpose is to encourage healthier food options (fresh fruits and vegetables) to try to eliminate hunger in poor communities--such as food deserts. The reason most people don't use SNAP at farmers' markets is two-fold:

1. Many people are unaware that this option is available to them.

2. People use SNAP for processed foods and junk food. They can even use SNAP to buy candy! However, they can't buy nutritional supplements!

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1. Is true, 2. is also true and doesn’t entirely make sense but is kind of beside the point as far as I can tell.
Here’s a store locator for authorized SNAP retailers. I plugged in my ZIP code and set it to a 25-mile radius... there are 29 options available, including 1 supermarket, 1 farmer’s market, and three small stores that definitely sell local products. All the rest are gas stations and convenience stores. http://usda-fns.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=e1f3028b217344d78b324193b10375e4

“The USDA identified around 6,500 food deserts between 2000 and 2006. Experts estimate that around 23.5 million people in the U.S. live in low income areas that are farther than 1 mile to the nearest large grocery store. Of these people, 11.5 million have low incomes.” http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-are-food-deserts#definition