By Tom Ashbrook.

It is Farm Bill time again in Washington.

And once again, American farms and waistlines and economics and trade are all on the line. If you are what you eat, the massive bill being cooked up in Congress right now is fundamental.

It decides what we grow. Its enormous farm subsidies help determine if Twinkies will be cheaper than greens, and Coke cheaper than carrot juice.

Critics want a Farm Bill revolution, for American diets and health and trade. Defenders say be careful you don’t wreck the amber waves of grain.

This hour On Point: the Farm Bill on Capitol Hill, and the food in our mouths.

Guests:

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee

Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities

Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and writer for The New York Times Magazine

Philip Brasher, agriculture policy reporter, The Des Moines Register

Jake Caldwell, director of agriculture and trade policy at the Center for American Progress.