On Saturday, some students will have a red Solo cup of freshly tapped keg beer in one hand and a brat in the other, partying before the football game against Michigan.

However, these students will not be thinking about which processing plant inspected their recently grilled brat. But if they breathe, eat or drink, agricultural policy determining where that brat came from directly impacts them.

About 65 million people live in rural America, but only 2 million of them work in the farming industry. The majority of those farmers are currently following the progress of the 2007 farm bill as it makes its way through Congress.

"Policies like the farm bill are not sexy, but they have drastic consequences for poor communities here in the U.S. and abroad," said Laura Rusu, spokesperson for Oxfam America, a nonprofit organization working nationally and internationally to solve poverty, hunger and injustice.

The idea of a farm bill arose during the Great Depression. In 1949, the first farm bill was designed to protect farmers and stabilize the rural economy. More than half a century later, the goal is still the same.

"It's something everyone should know because policies trickle down to cafeterias at Gordon Commons and dinner tables," said Anne Lupardus, spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis.

The farm bill is revised every five years, evolving with the changing face of the American farmer and fluctuating international economy.