Few things sound as boring as a discussion of future federal crop insurance fortunes, but believe it or not, said discussion will be a fulcrum in the next Farm Bill, whether it comes up this year or next.

I don't care about crop insurance per se, but I do care about federal ag policies that subsidize some crops at the expense of others.

Subsidizing corn, for example, ensures a flood of it that's misused as fuel (ethanol), as food for cattle (nature made them grass eaters, not grain eaters), and sweetener (high fructose corn syrup). Meanwhile, government does next to nothing to underwrite fresh fruits and vegetables.

In the debate over the things that nutrition advocates care about, crop insurance is going to be a lynchpin. And that means, I need to pay attention to it. In this post, food-policy doyenne Marion Nestle helps to explain it.