Why Every American Should Care About the Farm Bill - Eater https://apple.news/AMPUaeS2qTWCV_m04HnPQgw
Why Every American Should Care About the Farm Bill - Eater https://apple.news/AMPUaeS2qTWCV_m04HnPQgw
US Farm subsidies: I was in the US (State of Maine) last weekend and I noticed a Pharmacy advertising milk - If I remember correctly it was $2.59 (us) for a US Gallon (128 oz). Across the border in Canada (2-3 hours drive away) milk is generally $6.29-6.49 (Canadian) for 4 litersOriginally Posted by Gee
when you consider the exchange rate (~30%) this works out to about $3.40 (in Canadian dollars) for slightly less milk - almost 50% cheaper
THAT is the effect of government subsidies that some dumb taxpayer has to pay
Is part of the reason for Canadian milk being so expensive in comparison not due to the exorbitant price of your artificially restricted supply management ie quotas?
The Canadians have a complex system of production quotas and import levies that restrict supply and hence keep the price at a sustainable levy for producers. The industry isn't subsidised by the tax payer but directly by the consumer in the form of a slightly higher (in theory) price at the point of sale. It's a system that works very well, maintaining sustainable farm gate prices helps family farms to survive because farming is a long term business that can't react quickly to changes in market forces.
This is where the fearless defenders of free trade chip in and say this system is hurting poor people via higher prices. Obviously such individuals only ever give a shit about poor people when it suits their ideology, but even if they were sincere in this concern it's still bollocks, the answer to food poverty isn't cheaper food, (at the expense of the environment, animal welfare and the producers), no one is going to be lifted out of poverty by having a pint of milk 5p cheaper.
The answer to food poverty is to have a fair society that pays people a decent wage and has good economic policies that create wealth, and most importantly distribute that wealth to all levels of society, not just the top 1%.
There's a crisis in american dairy farming at the moment and this was the basis for Trumps fall out With Trudeau at the G7, although his argument is based on a misunderstanding of the issue, unsurprisingly. The Canadian's supply management of their dairy industry is an object lesson in a farm support system that actually works, at no cost to the tax payer, but rather than consider a similar system for US farmers, Trump's enablers want to dump surplus subsidised US dairy products on the Canadian market and feck the Canadian farmers as well.
An amusing.....if the phrase can be used......observation of the situation....
Credits to “The Economist”3E11F072-8953-4FE1-9CF7-8431BD42F31D.jpeg
Unsure why the Thumbnail appears upside down but enlarge it and as if by Magic it appears the correct way.
Must be an auto feature for my Southern Hemisphere readers!
It was followed else where by the old adage.....”In America anyone can be elected President! That is the problem!”.
Sorry to disappoint - doesn't work that way here.An amusing.....if the phrase can be used......observation of the situation....
Credits to “The Economist”3E11F072-8953-4FE1-9CF7-8431BD42F31D.jpeg
Unsure why the Thumbnail appears upside down but enlarge it and as if by Magic it appears the correct way.
Must be an auto feature for my Southern Hemisphere readers!
Kind thought though.
JV
Agtronix - the home of the Weedswiper
Once the thumbnail has opened into a larger picture, tap it again and it opens even bigger and the correct way up
Correct! Thanks Barney.
Being at the bottom of the world, we're a little slow.
PS I like the last line of the story!
Agtronix - the home of the Weedswiper
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