Plus a ride in a four-wheeler runnin' on ethanol! I wouldn't have believed it if Chairman Peterson himself hadn't divulged the back story to the indefatigable Ms. Lochhead in today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Even the staunchest supporters of crop subsidies are worried that widespread publicity about huge farming operations getting millions of dollars of subsidies is jeopardizing support for farm programs.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Colin Peterson, D-Minn., told Farm Journal Forum on Monday that Pelosi "has taken a lot of flak, to say the least," for pushing farm subsidies through the House. "She got the heck beat out of her by the San Francisco paper and others around the country, but she stood up to it, and I think she understands ... what people are up to," Peterson, a staunch subsidy supporter, said.

Pelosi's role on the farm bill will be critical heading into next months' negotiations with the Senate to produce a final bill. Peterson said he believes Pelosi was won over to farm programs during a visit to his district for an annual Farm Fest.

"She just had a great time, and her staff did, and they bonded with the farmers and she was eating pork chops on a stick and riding around in an ethanol four-wheeler," Peterson said. "And that had a lot to do with her being as engaged and helpful as she was in finally getting the bill through."

Reformers might have countered with our own on-message culinary offering. Maybe a crappy school lunch slopped all over a cafeteria tray.

Still, the pesky reform problem just won't go away, even after Speaker Pelosi did her best to help the subsidy lobby kill it:

Peterson said debate over payment limits has him "about ready to tear my hair out," but that he now believes some limits on subsidies are inevitable. "We're just going to keep getting the hell beat out of us," he said. "If we can have farm payments go to people who actually farm, that would be a good start."