Our support for the production of ethanol and other biobased fuels also has an important environmental impact, promoting a renewable energy source and helping control greenhouse gas emissions. After all, if you don't understand the inherent value of farms and rural communities then you'll have less hesitation about paving over your farming neighbors. This is kind of ironic, because as I mentioned earlier, there is actually great physical proximity between cities and farms. But that proximity hasn't really created a sense of mutual understanding and cooperation. But through our strong support for farmers markets, USDA can help bridge this gap.
Farmers markets can become forums for discussion and dialogue.
They create a kind of civic space where relationships can be built and common ground can be identified. Unfortunately, not enough people are really grasping the universal importance of farmland protection and agricultural conservation. Earlier this year, the President proposed a budget that would have dramatically increased investments in farmland protection, wetlands, wildlife habitat restoration and more. But the Administration's budget proposal was essentially dead on arrival at Capitol Hill, and Congress ended up completely short-shrifting farm conservation. This, in my opinion, is just bad public policy.