Wall Street Journal says "Yay," for food stamps.

     Farmers markets have benefited from a significant boost in food stamp benefits, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal. Reporters Roger Thurow and Timothy Martin interviewed farm marketer Ed Kraklio, Jr., in Davenport, Iowa, to find out how the food stamp increase has affected his business.  He now takes in several hundred extra dollars a month, according to the WSJ, which has enabled him to hire an assistant to help tend his fruit and vegetble crops.
    That assistant spends her income in nearby stores, restaurants and gas stations. Which is good for the economy, according to the USDA, because every $5 worth of food stamps that goes out generates $9.20 worth of economic activity. A Chicago mother whose monthly food stamp allowance went from $525 to $606 in April, told the reporters that she has introduced her two sons to things like cauliflower, cabbages, lettuce and cucumbers with the increase.
    According to the USDA calculator, that translates into $1,115 worth of economic activity. Some 80 percent of food stamp money is spent with the first two weeks of its receipt, and 97 percent is gone by the end of the month. Which means the extra food stamp money could be considered an almost immediate stimulus to the U.S. economy.
    I don't understand government math, e.g., giving out $5 and getting $9.20 back. If I could find a store that gave change like that, I'd give it all my tens and twenties. And all I know about the food stamp program is that it feeds people who need food. I've been in line atWeis Market behind people shopping with food stamps or with WICI vouchers, and they were buying honest to goodness food.
    Farm raised food.
    I know part of my tax dollar goes directly to food recipients and indirectly to farmers and I don't begrudge a penny of it.
    What surprised me about this WSJ story was the sympathetic tone it took towards food stamp recipients. What did not surprise me were the over-the-top free-market-at-any-cost comments from the paper's readers. They were more fun than the story itself, which you can read here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124691958931402479.html

    If the energy bill recently passed by the House gets the nod from the Senate and the President, farmers could find themselves in the carbon offset business, according to an AP story in the current edition of Lancaster Farming. According to the article, "Farmers that till their soil differently or apply new environmental techniques can get money by cooperating with a polluter as a carbon offset."  Sounds like something to look into.

    I think you'll flip over this new drill. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2026208/very_funny_commercial/