With the rising evidence pointing to the environmental and ethical implications of industrial factory farming-

Question

-do you think that is perhaps time that our government considers rethinking where it puts our tax money? The US federal government gives subsidies, paid for like everything with tax dollars, to farmers that produce Dairy products, meat products, and grain products. There is no government support for farmers who grow fruits and vegitables (increasingly shown to be key to good health, and be less environmentally damaging than meat or dairy.)

Is it time we either go the Liberitarian way and get the government out of the food industry entirely, allowing free market forces to shape the prices and availability of food sources, or should we go the authoritarian way and provide the same subsidies to all farmers regardless of what they grow.

Thoughts?

Answer 1

Ag is notorious for being up and down.  Both the markets and the weather.  Think about the process.  One harvester costs $100,000+.  Farm equipment can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.  It is used only for a few weeks per year.  It is not an in and out kind of business.  

If we do not have to eat daily, no problem. Many crops can be losers for one or more years, tomatoes, peaches, rice, potatoes(Irish potato famine), etc.  Less than 1% of Americans are farming.  The government is cutting the farmers off at the knees with NAFTA, OSHA, EPA, ESA, Water issues, migrant labor, BLM lies, etc  

Should we really be biting the hand that is feeding us?  Are we importing foods now that have poison in them?   Why do farmers have bumper stickers that say, 'Hungry? Eat an Environmentalist.'  It is easy to carp at farmers when your stomachs are full.  But when all of a sudden food becomes scarce or unavailable.......?   Or very expensive?  Who will hang the highest?

Answer 2

We should totally take away all the subsidies. I hate it that my tax money goes to subsidize meat and dairy when I don't use either of those things. I've read before that beef would cost $30 a pound if it weren't subsidized. Do you know how much fruit and vegetables I could buy for $30? It's beyond me why the government keeps giving money to industries which harm the environment and our health.

Answer 3

I agree with what you are saying, but I would like to learn more about why the government it subsidizing those things before I blindly condemn it.