(article, Culinate staff)
Thanks to a last-minute piece of legislation signed into law yesterday by President Obama, the nation didn't careen off the so-called '"fiscal with the start of the new year. But that doesn't mean food-politickers aren't still worried. As part of the fiscal-cliff negotiations, the 2012 farm bill — which stalled in Congress — has been given a nine-month extension that will, among other things, temporarily prevent a price hike on milk. Venerable food-and-farms activist Wendell Berry thinks that, instead of rewriting the Farm Bill every five years, we should hammer out a truly sustainable bill — one that would stand for 50 years. And Mark Bittman, in a recent op-ed, agreed: "The point is that 'sustainability' is not only possible but essential: only by saving the earth can we save ourselves, and vice versa." Here's hoping things get more sustainable in 2013.