Why are we paying Farm Subsidies when food prices are at an all-time high?

Question

Farming is a business like every other - you take a risk and one of those risks is that you may go out of business.

I didn't go to the government asking for free money when my business fell on hard times. Now food prices are at an all-time high. Isn't it time to stop paying farmers to not grow anything! That way we can decrease our dependancy on foreign food, just like we should not be dependant on foreign oil!

Your thoughts???

Answer 1

Thats something I've been wondering myself.  Honestly, I'd like to see the international community take more action to see that everything that is grown is distributed.

Answer 2

Ask Obama as he voted for the latest giveaway to farmers; McCain didn't and that's one of the reasons why he passed on Iowa back in December.

And, of course, your point is well-taken; the only farm subsidies that should exist are those to ensure that farmers keep producing. Read: Only in the very toughest of times should we even CONSIDER offering farmers subsidies.

No, he CAN'T!!! No, he WON'T!!! '08

No, she COULDN'T!!! No, she DIDN'T!!! '08

Answer 3

because the supermarkets are keeping prices high..

When my dad sold his flock crossbreed sheep in scotland in the late 80's he got about £40 a head for them at auction.

Then New Zealand lamb flooded the market.

In the early 90's you could buy a whole, live sheep at market for £1.50.

Did the price of lamb fall? No.

Answer 4

You clearly don't understand the purpose of farm subsidies and the ramifications of ending them.

Farm subsidies are provided to MAINTAIN PRODUCE PRODUCTION CAPACITY. Food is cheap and to make money farmers were INCREASING supply. This practice was depleting fertile soil of valuable nutrients. The government wisely stepped in and decidedto prevent overfarming and MAINTAIN production capacity they would pay the farmers to produce ONLY what we need. Remember, once you develop farmland, that farmland is gone FOREVER. As our population continues to grow our need for farmland will continue to grow as well.  

As for food prices today, that is not a function of the cost of growing food. It is a function of the cost of transporting the food from the field to its final destination in your home.

The corn in the can costs half as much as the can, the corn AND the can cost less than the amount of money it costs to transport the can from the plant to the grocery store. Cutting off farming subsidies is like trying to drop the price of cars by buying cheaper nuts and bolts.

Our country doesn't depend heavily on foreign food. Most of the food we get from foreign sources are products that are not staples. Most of what we import is exotic fruits and meats. The only near staple I know of that we import is Tuna.

The way to bring down the price of food is to bring down the price of gasoline. The increases are almost TOTALLY a function of high gas prices.

Answer 5

Because food is the most vital part of any nation. and if every farmer said "hey, if i sold my farmland to a development group i could clean up. " then we wouldnt have any farms. farming is rather expensive. and to much nature can ruin an entire crop. if it wasnt for the government, every farmer would be dirt poor. also there is a program where the government will pay you NOT to grow anything. the goal is to return some land to natural grasses, which prevents erosion.

Answer 6

Farmers should only be paid when they produce a product.....food.  What they harvest they sell.......Wouldn't you like to stay home and have your boss mail your check?

Answer 7

To help corporate farms.