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American farmers are on welfare. For the year 2000, ALMOST HALF OF THE NET INCOME OF farmers came from the US Government. Between 1996 and 2000, the taxpayers of this country have subsidized farmers to the tune of $92 billion. ($92/4 years = $23 per year). (Go to this link to see the data.... www.ewg.org).
For at least the last 2 decades, agriculture policy makers have carried high the banner of "free trade". It is true that agricultural exports are one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal balance of trade. For the year 2000 America exported $50.9 billion worth of agricultural products and imported only $36.9 billion. That's a net gain of $14 billion per year. However, it cost taxpayers $23 billion to gain that $14 billion trade surplus.
The prevailing doctrine is that all interference with "free trade" should be ended...the sooner the better. The freedom to farm legislation passed in 1996 did just that. This was the 5 year plan that would "get the government off the backs of farmers". Agriculture would be ruled by the free market. The future would be rosy.
The result has been the exact opposite. Farm commodity prices are as low as they were 20 years ago. However, store prices for the food we buy have, by and large, kept pace with inflation. The gap between prices received by farmers and prices the consumer pays at the supermarket have gotten wider and wider. For every dollar the consumer spends on food, the farmer receives about a penny! Low commodity prices have forces family farmers into bankruptcy and many left the farm. Those farmers that remain went deeper into debt as they purchased more land and bought bigger equipment to work that land. Rural communities have suffered. Vertical integration has resulted in reduced competition among food processors. Environmental problems become more acute. Food quality and safety are of increasing concern. Markets are not "free".
It is time for a major paradigm shift in the way we produce our food. The shift must be toward sustainability, environment compatibility and social responsibility. The result will be a continuous supply of pure, wholesome food, produced in a true free market setting. Without the shift, the bulk of the food you eat will be of the same genetically modified stock, processed by a few multinational corporations with much of it, like our oil, imported from abroad.
For at least the last 2 decades, agriculture policy makers have carried high the banner of "free trade". It is true that agricultural exports are one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal balance of trade. For the year 2000 America exported $50.9 billion worth of agricultural products and imported only $36.9 billion. That's a net gain of $14 billion per year. However, it cost taxpayers $23 billion to gain that $14 billion trade surplus.
The prevailing doctrine is that all interference with "free trade" should be ended...the sooner the better. The freedom to farm legislation passed in 1996 did just that. This was the 5 year plan that would "get the government off the backs of farmers". Agriculture would be ruled by the free market. The future would be rosy.
The result has been the exact opposite. Farm commodity prices are as low as they were 20 years ago. However, store prices for the food we buy have, by and large, kept pace with inflation. The gap between prices received by farmers and prices the consumer pays at the supermarket have gotten wider and wider. For every dollar the consumer spends on food, the farmer receives about a penny! Low commodity prices have forces family farmers into bankruptcy and many left the farm. Those farmers that remain went deeper into debt as they purchased more land and bought bigger equipment to work that land. Rural communities have suffered. Vertical integration has resulted in reduced competition among food processors. Environmental problems become more acute. Food quality and safety are of increasing concern. Markets are not "free".
It is time for a major paradigm shift in the way we produce our food. The shift must be toward sustainability, environment compatibility and social responsibility. The result will be a continuous supply of pure, wholesome food, produced in a true free market setting. Without the shift, the bulk of the food you eat will be of the same genetically modified stock, processed by a few multinational corporations with much of it, like our oil, imported from abroad.
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