My head is still swimming with all the information I gathered at yesterday's conference. With discussions on everything from water rights to hunger to raw milk to GMO's, there were a few ideas/comments that stood out out most to me. One was a bit of an office joke that Patty Lovera of the Food and Water Watch told us about. The staff of this non-profit sustainable food & environmental lobbying group likes to play a version of the "6 degrees to Kevin Bacon" game where, instead of movie stars, they can connect any problem in the world in less than 6 steps to the consolidation of the world's food supply into a few very wealthy and very powerful hands. Where this might be a bit of an exaggeration (although I am not totally convinced it isn't possible), it is true that the more you learn about how most of us get our food, you can see how it is connected to a number of problems from childhood obesity to rising health care costs to environmental degradation to faltering rural economies and lack of good jobs for the many looking for good work.
Why is it that the government will intercede between AT&T buying T-Mobile in the name of anti-trust & consumer protection, but they have allowed the likes of Monsanto to buy up every independent seed company they can get their hands on? Did you know that 2/3 of the corn seed sold in the US come from 2 companies? 80% of the beef in this country is slaughtered by 4 companies. There are examples like this all throughout the food industry. There can be no free market competition when so much of the market is controlled by so few. In this system farmers have no power, and consumers have no choice. Why are anti trust laws thrown out the window when it comes to food?
The Keynote speaker of the conference was John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri, Columbia. It was wonderful to hear from an economist that the economic reality of our food system made no sense, and that we are really no longer dealing with a capitalist structure. Capitalism relies on the competition between a large number of buyers and sellers. Once the market power has been consolidated into a few hands, we have moved from a free capitalist market to a corporatocracy, which is more akin to communism. The only real ddifference is that instead of the government holding the power, a few entities in the form of corporations get to dictate the rules. He admitted that this is a bit of a rradical idea, but he had a lot of evidence to back it up.
Professor Ikerd's suggestion was to end all government subsidies and use the money to offer a tax credit to those farmers who are implementing sustainable practices on their farm. He proposed that with all the subsidy money now, we should be able to offer each small farmer about a $20,000 tax credit until they start making a livable income - somewhere in the 40,000 to 50,000 range. He also proposed that factory feedlots, or CAFOS (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) should be treated as a factory and subject to all the environmental and public health regulations that any industrial factory is subject to. This would be a big step in abolishing CAFOS all together.
And there was so much more! If any one wants to chat about food politics with me, come on down to the market and find me in the garden! And remember to buy local! The best way you can help support a vibrant local food economy by choosing to eat local food. No solution is as delicious!
