If you're talking about paying farmers for land that lies fallow, you should do some research on soil depletion and crop rotation.

If you want to talk about propping up food prices, talk about all the food we're just throwing away.

Soil depletion and crop rotation can be managed by the farmer without paying him to not farm. If declining yields aren't enough to encourage intelligent farming techniques, then he has no business being in business.

How do we not throw food away once it's bad?

I love how out of touch this piece of eurotrash is.

until I bought my most recent house, I've always had a garden every year. But to buy from stores, about 2 miles in any direction and I've a grocery store near me. Each Thursday is farmers market at our local college.

Reading a few papers with regards to the topic. Do you want me to include any sources you have on the topic?

Food Loss:
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/reducewaste/food/foodlosses.pdf
http://www.ce.cmu.edu/~gdrg/readings/2006/12/19/Jones_UsingContemporaryArchaeologyAndAppliedAnthropologyToUnderstandFoodLossInAmericanFoodSystem.pdf

Fallow Farming Regulations:
http://www.serconline.org/farmlandTaxLoophole.html
http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3274.pdf

I'll engage more fully in this discussion after I read up on it. But I can tell you that from a soil science perspective, crop rotation is necessary but not sufficient for keeping your fields active--they do need to lie fallow regularly in order to keep the yield high and not deplete the soil.

When I say we are subsidizing the wrong farmers, I mean we are subsidizing corn and soy beans that go into preservatives at the expense of fresh food growers who can't get their products into anybody who isn't Walmart or a large grocery store due to economies of scale. Maybe you should study national agricultural policy before you call BS on statements made about it because I'm correct here.

Luckily we have a farmers market downtown where our poorer residents who aren't privileged enough to live near fresh food stores can get it on the weekends, as all our buses can make it there. But it is still fucking expensive to buy non-corn or soy products. And everything cost more the lower the socioeconomic area you buy it is. Milks $3 in the suburbs, $4.50 in the hood. A loaf of bread $3, when they're $1 a few miles away where I'm lucky enough to be able to drive to.

But hunger was reintroduced as a problem in America when our agricultural strategy turned into what it is now. Bu 1980, hunger had been eradicated, but some treasonous assholes in government only serve 1-3% of the population at the expense of the lower 97%. We don't have a lack of food, the means of distribution is faulty. As a society we need to reevaluate.


https://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-hunger-us

Worshiping money is ruining this nation. Bring back the New Deal to be prosperous again. It is time to rethink our food distribution system in the US because what we've decided on is lacking and it is time to change it.

This post was edited by Skinned on Apr 4 2014 12:23pm

Ag policy is already a pet peeve of mine, tyvm. Subsidizing corn/soy (which I do NOT condone) does not mean that it comes at the expense of fresh food growers.

We resurrecting the non-existence of starvation in the US thread again?

Did you not look at my post? Read the quote box. Only an idiot would claim many Americans don't have a shortage of food.

I suppose libertarians are okay with the elderly poor eating cat food as long as they're not technically starving to death.

Good to know that any hunger problems have to reach the point of mass starvation before you feel like they're worth addressing.

/s



inbe4ed

This post was edited by Skinned on Apr 4 2014 12:57pm

Here is a solid comprehensive film about hunger in America, told in a non-partisan way. When I say non-partisan, I mean it doesn't try to scapegoat any single political party or politician while ignoring the transgressions of the others.

http://www.takepart.com/place-at-the-table

Unless you're a libertarian and believe ketchup is a vegetable and hunger isn't a problem until the peasants are starving and rioting you'll probably enjoy the movie. If you're a libertarian then you'd probably just blame the kids for not being able to learn when they're not getting enough nutrition to focus on anything but being hungry and say that the federal lunch programs that give them some of their meager calorie count is being oppressive to your freedom, while of course your needs are being met.

Lol, you're a regular walking non sequitur today aren't you? Do you need a hug?