In part 1, Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to the Food and Farm Bill, explains the historical roots of the federal Farm Bill, the single, largest piece of federal legislation, and as he himself notes, most citizens know little about it.

The current Farm Bill is a 90 billion dollar a year federal program that provides essential support for our industrial food system. Roughly half of this money goes to food and nutrition programs, such as school lunches, and programs to serve the poor, while most of the remaining half helps fund the large commodity crop farmers who grow: wheat, grain, cotton, rice, and soybeans.

As Imhoff points out, the Farm Bill largely subsidizes crops that do not feed people directly, and indirectly promotes the cheaper production of highly processed foods that contribute to many of the diet-related chronic diseases that plague society.