Using Utensils

Citified Farmers

This map of San Francisco is maddening… each one of those dots is a “farmer” receiving a farm subsidy:

http://farm.ewg.org/sites/farmbill2007/mappage.php

It’s not just limited to San Francisco, it’s like this across the entire country.

Farm Subsidies on the Sauce

Growing up on a small farm, subsidies have always been a divisive subject for me. The majority of the money doesn’t reach its intended target and most of it winds up in the hands of large corporations and non-farmers.

While some of it does reach and help small American farms, the international effects of the subsidization of large corporate farms are devastating.

The subsidized food floods the market with cheap grain and makes it nearly impossible for small farmers in developing countries to make a living.

While I think small American farms do need help, the law need to be rewritten to actually help domestic farmers instead crushing foreign markets and lining the wallets of corporations and non-farmers.

Some Articles:

Farm Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who Don’t Farm
Close farm subsidy loophole that costs taxpayers billions