How Farm Subsidies (Mal)Function

I attended a presentation by Dr. Andrew Weil a couple of weeks ago on the subject of  food in today’s culture and public health. Part of the discussion focused on the role of  farm subsidies, which  make unhealthy food products the most accessible. Meanwhile, no fruits or vegetables are subsidized. Looking at the increasing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in the U.S. — just those two factors alone — we cannot ignore that something’s gone terribly awry, and a lot of it has to do with the food we’re putting into our bodies. It’s time to get real about food. Real food, not processed food products.

Farm Subsidies & the American Farmer
Government subsidies to farmers really blossomed under Roosevelt during the New Deal era as a way of helping farmers during the Depression. The sad truth is that, in an economic climate today where small farmers are struggling, the effect of subsidies largely has the opposite of its intended effect. Today, the government gives about $30 billion in agricultural subsidies. Nearly 75% of subsidy dollars are given to only 10% of subsidized farms — the biggest players in agribusiness rather than the family farmers. Furthermore, more than 90% of the subsidies go to just a handful of crops: corn, wheat, soy, cotton, and rice. Consequently, we have an over-production of a few products and a lack of diversity in farming.

Government subsidies usually are not available to smaller farmers. Unlike subsidized farm operations, small farmers have to bear the actual costs of producing the same crops that the subsidized businesses are producing. What’s worse, they have to sell at the lower market prices that are a direct result of the surplus created by their subsidized competitors. As it turns out, rather than helping small farmers, government subsidies widen the gap in competition to the point of practically taking the smaller farmers out of the game completely.

Corn Syrup & Animal Feed
The subsidization of corn has led to a surplus of the grain, which means agribusiness is always looking for creative ways to package and sell the overabundant supply. The surplus is what led to the explosion of the corn syrup industry in America (obesity!). It’s also created a monster otherwise known as the animal-feed industry. Feeding grain to animals whose systems cannot digest grain results in sick animals on massive feed lots. There, agribusiness is only interested in growing animals as big and quickly as possible — treating living, sentient beings just like any other “crop,” with little regard for the animals’ welfare and quality of life. Cows are supposed to eat grass, not corn.

What It Really Costs Us
In the form of government subsidies, we are enabling agribusiness to present its products at prices below the actual production costs. So it’s important to figure in the tax dollars we’re handing over to be spent this way, along with our receipts from the market. Not to mention all our tax dollars that are going towards healthcare in this country. Healthcare costs are through the roof, largely because of illnesses related to America’s over-consumption and nasty food habits. It’s a vicious corporate-driven cycle and we’re smack in the middle of it.

For more details about the farm bill, check out “Top 10 Things You Should Know About The Farm Bill” by the Environmental Working Group.

Related posts: