Yes, you read the title correctly. We here in the US are actually promoting hunger abroad, through our antiquated system of farm subsidies. How does that work? Let me explain. No, there is not enough time; let me sum up...
The government (that's us, people) pays farmers a minimum price for certain crops - wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans to name a few.
Since farmers know they can get a specific price, guaranteed, for those crops, they produce a LOT of them, as opposed to taking their chances on the fair market value of other crops.
There are huge surpluses, then, in the US, and we can export those crops very cheaply to other countries, where the local farmers are then basically put out of business. Wonderful. We are giving subsidies to our farmers and trashing the economies of many rural nations.
But wait, you say: those farmers need help! They are the good old boys of our country, the backbone of our nation. Riiiiight. Look at who gets the money - almost 75% of total subsidy money goes to about 10% of our farmers - the richest 10%. And some of those recipients are corporations - want some examples?? Recipients of five- and six-figure farm subsidy payments included John Hancock Life Insurance Co., Chevron, banker David Rockefeller, and basketball star Scottie Pippen. Argh.
This whole system started in the 1930s, when it was needed. Today, it's a different story. Besides, why are farmers any more important than grocers, or bankers, or oil rig workers? Everyone chooses a job and takes the consequences; I do contract work because it affords me the ability to have a flexible schedule; does that mean I should get unemployment money if my contract ends, or that anyone should feel sorry for me if I have no work for a few months? NO! It's a risk I take to have the job I have.
One more glitch in the system: by growing the crops (like wheat, rice, corn, and soy) that are subsidized, there's another victim - the globe. Those crops use planting and harvesting methods that encourage and promote the use of huge vehicles that burn tons of fuel and add to global warming (as opposed to crops like broccoli or squash, that give more jobs to blue-collar workers and use lots less fossil fuel for harvesting).
So, when you see the next farm bill come up for vote, write to your congressperson and say NO.
Now, go eat some broccoli and a couple parsnips. :-)
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Why parsnips? Parsnips are so vile and revolting, who would want to eat them?!?! Truth be told, I've never consumed a parsnip in my life, so how the hell would I know that they are vile and revolting? because someone else told me so!!
It seems that a lot of legislation, these days, is voted on by people who learned from a friend of a friend's hairdresser, in some random conversation during their monthly trim (might I add hairdressers aren't always the brightest people) that some group of people is wilting away and in need of government subsidies. (Meanwhile, the hairdresser got this from their Seventeen Magazine while reading a story about some supermodel's foor farming background.)
Bottom line, more of us need to actually READ legislation and vote on bills that come out, such as repeat bills including multi-million dollar farmers.
The other day there were a few people standing outside the cafeteria at my school with some petitions they wanted me to sign. I decided to humor them, so I began reading over the petitions.
The first petition was a pretty straight-foreward ecological petition calling for all electric plants to gradually increase their renewable-resource-electricity production to reach 30% by 2030. No problem..sign, date, done!
The second petition required abortion agencies to notify parents that their children are getting abortions if they are under the age of 17. The whole reason behind the whole "doctor-patient priveledge" thing, especially with abortions, is so that 15 year old girls don't go and get stuck with a dirty metal rod because they don't want their parents knowing, get a staph infection, and die a horrible painful death. I scoffed and tossed that one aside.
The third petition sounded pretty good at first-glance...It would allocate certain funds to aid non-violent drug abusers to pay for rehabilitation and job searching, YAY! Buuuut, I went on to state that prison sentences would be reduced for repeat offenders, and the three strikes rule wouldn't apply for them (or something to that affect). I laughed at the wild attempt to get drug dealers back on our streets selling to our children, and moved on.
Finally, the 4th petition required farmers who raise animals to provide enough room in the pens for them to do a full 360, stand, sit, and lay down. This especially applied to farmers who raise cattle for veal, chickens, etc. Seeing as veal cattle stand in a pen just big enough for them to stand still, I thought this was a good idea, so I signed (after making sure there were no crazy abortion clauses x-mas treed onto the petition).
bottom line is, not only do we need to do some homework on background for bills, such as farmer subsidies, but we need to READ the bills CAREFULLY....
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