Here's a 'Food Manifesto' for the Nation

The US needs a modern version of old-school home ec classes, writes foodie Mark Bittman. "When people cook their own food, they make better choices," he writes in the New York Times. Let's provide food education for kids and cooking classes for any adults who want them, Bittman writes as part of a "food manifesto" for the nation. He's also kicking around something called a Civilian Cooking Corps, but it gets just a mention for now.

Some of his other suggestions:

• Bad subsidies: "End government subsidies to processed foods," especially in the corn industry.
• Good subsidies: Give them to small farmers and others who "produce and sell actual food for direct consumption."
• CAFOs: Outlaw those meat factories known as concentrated animal feeding operations; they're awful for the animals, the environment, and humans, too.

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