brief unedited thoughts about farm subsidies

[quietann]

Summary: To me, at least, there is something very disturbing about turning one's food production over to another nation.

Iceland, the UK, and other European countries are constantly debating the utility of farming subsidies. Some people feel that if European farming "real" costs are *that* high, let the market do its work and kill off the largely unprofitable farms. Let production go to the places where it's "cheap" to farm. I say "cheap" because things like leveling tropical rainforest to make it pastureland to satisfy wealthy countries' taste for beef has huge hidden costs in the form of environmental degradation (and is also a very short-term use of that land, as the soil etc. are not right for grasslands.)

But on a gut level, it really bothers me to let the farmers we have just fade away. It's not just the crops they grow; it's also a huge body of knowledge they have.

Please note that I don't support farm subsidies to massive agri-business like ADM (whose profits come from farm subsidies, e.g. from our taxes), especially since they're dumping their main product, corn, into our food supply chain faster than we'd otherwise absorb it -- hence, our "beloved" high fructose corn syrup. But I have no idea where to draw the line between family farms and agri-business. (BTW, the UK just does not use it as a sweetener at all. They are more inclined to use artificial sweeteners, which I know some people think are worse, usually in combination with sugar, which is expensive here as it is everywhere else.)

Comments

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

There are other reasons to be uneasy about trusting other countries to supply our food. Some have lax standards of quality and safety - look at the recent pet food kerfuffle, which was caused by wheat gluten from China containing nasty chemicals.

Also, do we want other countries to have that kind of hold over us? What if a new leader gets PO'd with the US and decides to withhold food supplies? We'd be idiotic to put ourselves in that kind of position, and yet I'm afraid that's exactly what we're doing, in the name of cheap convenience (i.e. short-sightedness).

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

also also, I worry on a regular basis that the US is turning into a nation of people who don't actually *do* anything of value. We're spending all our effort just puffing up our own artificial creations and luxuries bigger and bigger, and eventually the whole house of cards will come down on our heads. (And yes, I am very much part of the problem.)