FDA: The answer to dangerous food is different dangerous food

You'd think that with all the food safety scares coming at a time of existing anxiety about global warming and energy supplies, local food advocates would get a hearing at higher levels of the advocacy and government communities. You'd be wrong, of course. Instead, you get the FDA ruling in favor of solutions such as this one.

Maybe you can hope for better policy if and when the feds work for Obama. Furthermore, maybe he'll push for a better farm bill in 2012 than the one you finally got this year. Of course, he'll be running for re-election and needing to prove himself a Friend of Business and generally a Non-Extremist at each and every turn. Not that you've ever counted on Democratic leadership on food issues anyway...

Here's a daydream. What if

• Obama wins in November.
• The Republicans, as expected, change their primary schedule effective 2012 but don't go so far as to stop letting Iowa and the other early states go first.
• Obama's people take political advantage of the fact that, as the party not running in the primaries, they're the ones who don't have to pander to big ag in Iowa.
• When the farm bill debate coincides with the general election campaign, Obama pushes for serious reform and attacks his challenger for pandering in Iowa.
• With congressional majorities strong enough to stand up to farm-state representatives up for re-election and the strong, this-is-finally-a-priority support of the White House, the Democrats pass a seriously reform-oriented farm bill. Unlike this last one, the bill is at least well on its way by November.
• Obama wins re-election. Farm-bill reformers get serious subsidy reform AND major initiatives to support small- and medium-scale produce and livestock producers. Everybody gets progress toward tastier and more healthful food, stronger communities, and pathogen outbreaks that are less common and far easier to track and contain.
  

I'm not holding my breath.