“After 18 months of fitful negotiations, [U.S.] the farm bill — a five-year omnibus piece of legislation that covers a range of domestic and international policies — could become law before the end of December,” The Guardian’s “Poverty Matters” blog reports, noting, “Legislators from the Senate and the House of Representatives have met in recent days to negotiate a merger of the versions of the farm bill that each body passed this year.” The blog examines proposed changes to the Food for Peace international aid program and provides quotes from an interview with Nancy Lindborg, USAID assistant administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, who “said having a more flexible approach to food aid would make the program far more effective” (McClanahan/Provost, 11/11).