While the Northeast is being buried under a blizzard, the Great Plains has its own storms to deal with. Dust storms, that is. Because of the ongoing drought in the Great Plains, crops are being ruined and dust storms are blowing. Down the road, this means higher food prices for all of us, because we’re in this together.

But there are folks beginning to take steps in the right direction. Anyone want to follow where they are leading?

Tim Huelskamp (FarRightR-Brownbackistan01) has been in the news lately for standing up to John Boehner (NotQuiteSoFarRightR). Last month, Boehner kicked Huelskamp off the House Agriculture committee, leaving Kansas without a member of that committee for the first time in 150 years. Note, please, that Huelskamp prides himself on being a farmer first, and Huelskamp’s most favorite map (his vast congressional district) is packed with farms, so this hurts him not just in his ego, but in his ability to deliver for his constituents.

Given another map that’s making the rounds these days, that ought to make his constituents, very nervous, if not very angry.

Hurricane Sandy has everyone’s attention, especially along the east coast, which isn’t surprising given the satellite imagery and computer models that put it crashing into the Atlantic coast between Maryland and Massachusetts. But back while things were quiet on the hurricane front — last February — people were thinking about them, like NOAA director Jane Lubchenco and Paul “Austerity Rocks!” Ryan.

But that was last spring, when the seas were calm. Today, Paul Ryan probably doesn’t want anything to think about what he proposed for the NOAA budget.

You’d think the USDA would see the flaw of logic in letting the people who make the food inspect the food and decide if it is actually safe to eat.

Is this really the type of program that we need to sacrifice in the name of sound budgeting? Do we really need to let poultry companies police themselves, or end lead poisoning prevention programs, so rich people can keep a tax cut?

The flood of waters continues, but as usual during a natural disaster, the flood of rumors is rolling right along with it. Mythical levee breaches compete with imaginary government policy decisions, all of which combine to try to drive those who are dealing with the actual flooding bonkers.

And don’t even get me started about a Fukushima-style disaster in Nebraska . . . Get a link, people — and it ought to be from someone closer to Nebraska than Hawaii.

Rumors flow faster than the water during a disaster like this. The folks who are working on protecting homes, businesses, and communities have enough to do without having to beat back rumors — but this, too, is part of dealing with a disaster.

It’s unclear what the charges of the lawsuit will be that Shirley Sherrod will bring against Andrew Breitbart — perhaps defamation or libel — but the discovery phase, at least, should be interesting.

Anyone following the Administration’s shameful treatment of Shirley Sherrod also knows that the entire episode began with a premeditated act by Andrew Breitbart, an unethical right wing thug who knowingly smeared both Ms. Sherrod and the NAACP with an obviously and misleadingly edited video.

The heart of the problem of the school lunch program is the USDA. Why didn’t Jamie Oliver talk about that more?

The House has already passed a landmark food safety bill. The Senate passed it out of committee. We’re closer than ever to food safety reform. Here’s what you need to know about it.