A new government study has come out stating that Americans waste (are you ready for it?) twenty-seven percent of all food available for consumption, and ninety-eight percent of that gets put in our landfills. That math equates to a pound of food wasted every day for every American. It may not be biodiesel driving up the price of food around the world after all.

As the New York Times also makes note, “The study didn’t account for the explosion of ready-to-eat foods now available at supermarkets, from rotisserie chickens to sandwiches and soups,” which get thrown away if they’re not bought in a timely fashion. This information comes out as we plunge into a global food shortage which starting to be felt here at home.

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This week, Congress approved a five-year $307 billion dollar farm bill with extensive bipartisan support, which, says the NY Times, virtually seals President Bush’s defeat in this ongoing battle over agricultural policy. There’s been a lot of debate over the bill – whom it benefits, and what its greater effects will be over time. Of course, a $307 billion dollar plan for anything can’t, at least in most cases, simply be labeled good or bad. The complexity of the bill is introduced below by Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the senior Republican on the agriculture panel:

“Obviously, I have been very disappointed in the comments coming out of the White House,” Mr. Chambliss said. “But we do have a strong vote in both the House and the Senate, and I think that shows you that in a complex piece of legislation like this, and it truly is because it touches so many different areas of so many different aspects of agriculture and food production, as well as nutrition and conservation and energy, that there is something in this bill for every member of the House and every member of the Senate.” [NY Times]

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