Duchess Catherine Middleton's Father-in-Law in DC

     On Tuesday, Prince Charles arrived in DC for a three- day visit.  Perhaps he’s trying to renew some Royal buzz as OBL’s death clearly stole the Royal thunder.

     The heir to the British throne enjoyed tea time at the Supreme Court with Justices Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia and Sonia Sotomayor.  The Prince of Wales then attended a reception for past recipients of the Marshall scholarship, which provides American students with an opportunity to pursue graduate studies at a UK university.

  
   Following his SCOTUS visit, Prince Charles, a long-time advocate of environmental issues, particularly sustainable and organic farming, spent 35 minutes touring Common Good City Farm on Capitol Hill.  The sustainable farm is in a low-income community near Howard University.  Low-income residents who volunteer at the farm get to take home a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

     On Wednesday, Prince Charles delivered the keynote speech at "The Future of Food" conference held at Georgetown University.  He blamed the high cost of locally produced organic food on farm subsidies for large-scale agriculture.  He encouraged more business and government support for organic and environmentally friendly food production.

     Federal farm subsidies began in the 1930s to guarantee a stable level of food production in the face of volatile prices.  Every four years, Congress authorizes a farm bill that provides subsidies to the ag industry amounting to about $20 billion a year.  About $5 billion of these subsidies are in the form of direct cash payments to farms.  Established in 1996, Congress initially intended these cash payments to provide farmers with greater flexibility over what to plant and help eventually transition farmers out of relying on government support.  The program was supposed to phase-out by 2002; however, Congress has since extended and increased the subsidies, which many criticize for encouraging unneeded production, inflating land prices, and benefiting wealthy individuals (including some Members of Congress) and Fortune 500 companies.  Growing budget concerns and the controversy surrounding direct payments create an opportunity for reform with the 2012 farm bill.

     Following his speech, the Prince met with President Obama, who is scheduled to travel to England for a ceremonial visit in a few weeks.  He had no ill feelings for not being invited to the royal wedding – no biggie since he had some other things to do over the weekend anyway (see e.g., killing Osama bin Laden).