Thread: The U.S. Needs A Sane Farm Policy - Time

A Sane Farm Policy

By Michael Grunwald

U.S. agriculture policy is a jumble, but the basic goal is simple: redistribute money to big commodity farmers. The median farmer's net worth is five times the median American's, and the top one-tenth of farmers get three-fourths of the subsidies. It's a welfare program for the megafarms that use the most fuel, water and pesticides; emit the most greenhouse gases; grow the most fattening crops; HIRE THE MOST ILLEGALS; and depopulate rural America.

Antiobesity, antipoverty, free-trade, balanced-budget and environmental activists have clamored for reform, but nobody works farm policy harder than the farm lobby, and farm-state politicians — including Obama — have protected the status quo. Still, Obama's agri-pandering didn't win him the Farm Bureau endorsement, even though McCain opposed farm giveaways. And Obama has suggested that he's open to more sensible policies that would promote less energy-intensive agriculture.

How about repealing the $307 billion farm bill and slashing subsidies — especially the for-no-apparent-reason "direct payments" we send to commodity farmers in good times and bad. Farm lobbyists will squeal, but 60% of U.S. farmers receive no subsidies. Instead, Obama can increase conservation subsidies for farmers who adopt green practices. He should also repeal the counterproductive mandates that will require the production of 36 billion gal. (136 billion L) of biofuels by 2022. Biofuels like corn ethanol sound great, and Obama supports them, but they accelerate global warming because shifting production from food to fuel leads to massive emissions from deforestation when farmers expand to grow more food. The biofuel boom is also jacking up the price of grain, which is increasing food prices and triggering food riots in countries like Yemen, Haiti and Pakistan.

The farm lobby and its water carriers in Congress are long overdue for a smackdown. But sensible farm policies could still include goodies for farmers. For example, Obama should ditch the preposterous ban on subsidized farmers' growing healthy fruits and vegetables. He should expand purchases for the successful school-lunch program while shifting the menus away from fattening crud. And he can expand markets for farmers and other American exporters by ending the humiliatingly futile Cuban embargo, which has been forcing the Castros out of power for 46 years now.

"A Sane Farm Policy" from "The New Agenda" by Michael Grunwald, p. 76 of pp 71-76, "Time" US print edition, November 17, 2008.

Online from "Time" US Edition: "Obama's Agenda:Get America Back on Track, A New, New Deal", By Michael Grunwald:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packa ... 78,00.html

There are too many things wrong with farm policy that could be easily fixed. In Lee County FL, land outlying a new hospital were owned by doctors' groups that "farmed" it, seeding the fields but never collecting the produce just for the agricultural tax benefit.
School lunch menus a few years ago were an absolute horror, Monday-hot dogs and French fries, Tuesday-pizza, Wednesday-spaghetti, Thursday-corn dogs and Friday-nachos or hamburgers on the bun. These kids are getting so much starch, chemicals, etc., that I am surprised not every kid is obese. And throw in the vending machines in schools where kids can get the extra kick from sodas and chips, instead of eating lunch (as the school district got a percentage of sales).
And don't even get me started on corn ethanol as an alternative fuel, as it is depleting the food supply, both to humans and farm animals.

How about the government get totally out of the "farming" business? Get rid of most the regulation and all the subsidies. That would be the best Farm Policy possible.

The U.S. Needs A Sane Farm Policy

How about the government get totally out of the "farming" business?

Yes Yes the government has proven they certainly can destroy, but not govern, and that includes all of the above!

Corporations have put the honest American farmer out of business. If it weren't for the way these farming corps play the farm industry like the stock market, there would be no problem, but unless the farmer works hand in hand with these corrupt corporations they are out left out of the market loop.

These corporations need to be done away with and the family farms need to be their own businesses and representatives once again. Grow it and there will be a demand. Cut the corporations out of the loop. They're bad for the environment, they're bad for the American Farmer and they're greedy people who will dump perfectly good produce, instead of giving it to the poor and starving, just to manipulate the price of it on the market. That's sinful and wrong. "Waste" wasn't even in the American Farmer's vocabulary, but under the guidelines of these mega corporations, waste is the name of the game.

waste is the name of the game.

That`s their plan, waste it all until we can`t do anything nomore

I was born and raised on a Dairy farm. We grew everything we needed. (except gas) When we left the farm, Corperation farmers had already started taking over the independent farmers.
I was a Grange Officer in CA. Which has to do with fighting Corperate Farming to help save Independent Farming.

We may be able to get help from the "National Grange" to help change policies.
The don't support illegal immigration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation ... _Husbandry
The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, also simply styled the Grange, is a fraternal organization for American farmers that encourages farm families to band together for their common economic and political good. Founded in 1867 after the Civil War,