Friday Vid Picks: Down on the Farm

Most children in America, when asked “Where does your food come from?” answer matter-of-factly, “From the store!” The disconnect between the food we eat and the farm on which it is grown is getting wider every year. Right now, farmers all over the country are paying close attention to Congress’s handling of the $290 billion farm bill. Long a contentious piece of legislation, the bill sends the vast bulk of farm subsidies to agro-industrial companies, angering small farmers domestically and abroad. This week, a group of senators introduced an alternative to the farm bill that would do away with subsidies altogether. Here’s a quick video primer on the farm bill and American agriculture.

City Slickers

Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns had been using maps to illustrate where and how many farm subsidies are going to “farmers” in America’s largest cities. Carrie Gouldin and the folks over at Mulch, a blog on agriculture, farm policy, and food safety, made it into a campy and poignant video.

Apple vs. Snack Cake Battle to the Death for the Farm Bill

If an issue can’t be explained by a chase sequence with ’70s guitar rifts, then I don’t want to know about it. Brought to you by Free Range Studios, the folks behind The Meatrix and Grocery Store Wars.

Reform the 2007 Farm Bill

The international effect of U.S. agricultural subsidies are hard to see from an American grocery store, but they undermine free trade agreements, food aid programs and economic growth in the developing world. Oxfam has more information on its web site.

Mystery Science Theater 3000, Dairy Farm: 1 of 2

“Ya see, we dump this stuff in the creek and the government pays us for it.” A sad but accurate assessment of farm subsidies. I still lament the day MST3K went off the air. Check out part two of this clip here and see what the MST3K crew is up to now here.

Kanye West “Can’t Tell Me Nothin” feat. Zach Galifianakis

This video first appeared on Kanye West’s official site and had people scratching their heads. Starring comedian Zach Galifianakis, the video satirizes the absurd megalomaniacal tendencies of hip-hop videos — and they happen to do it on a farm. Check the full backstory here.

Additional research done by Stephanie Lawrence.