This week, we take a look at the tricky link between farm policy and obesity. Plus, the State Veterinarian talks about what his office does – and why it’s important.
Hosted by Kyle Deas.
Farm subsidies take a lot of flack from anti-obesity advocates. And it seems like an easy case to make: farm subsidies encourage farmers to grow too much grain, which causes prices to drop and food to get cheaper, which causes us to eat to much. Seems like a simple equation.
But as Harvest Public Media’s Frank Morris found out, the truth is a bit more complicated.
The Animal Health Division of the Department of Agriculture doesn’t get a lot of press, but the division has a large effect on Missouri farmers. State Veterinarian Taylor Woods has headed the division for nearly twenty years, and in that time, he’s developed policies and procedures to combat numerous diseases that threaten Missouri livestock.
St. Louis Public Radio’s Marshall Griffin sat down with Woods to talk about those efforts and the future.