There’s not much of a silver lining when it comes to America’s skyrocketing food prices – or the bizarre government policies responsible for them.
So take comfort in small things.
The New York Times recently reported that American farmers are increasingly opting out of a federal program that pays them not to farm.
As of last summer, the 23-year-old Conservation Reserve Program (ostensibly designed to preserve wildlife habitats) was doling out $1.8 billion a year to keep idle nearly 37 million acres of fertile farmland – an area larger than New York state.
But with record profits there for the taking – the price of corn has jumped more than 40 percent since last March; wheat has doubled – more and more farmers are turning their backs on that deal.
And good riddance. With the nationwide price of a loaf of bread up 11 percent and a gallon of milk up 26 percent in just a year, the last thing American taxpayers can afford is to discourage food production.
Sad to say, then, that when it comes to price-inflating farm handouts, $1.8 billion is a drop in the bucket. The five-year farm bill currently before Congress is loaded with some $286 billion in agricultural subsidies – most of which will redound for the benefit of vast corporate farms that couldn’t need the money less.
And then there’s ethanol – perhaps the greatest environmental scam in recent memory. Washington subsidizes production of the corn-based fuel to the tune of 51 cents a gallon – at the same time it slaps prohibitive tariffs on a similar sugar-based version from Latin America.
The result: A bonanza for Big Agro, which is replacing its fertile wheat and soy fields with ethanol-bound corn – driving up the price of nearly everything.
Indeed, according to IMF estimates, US ethanol production accounts for half the rise in global corn demand since 2005.
Which means that Congress’ chronic farm nonsense not only sticks it to the hard-pressed American consumer, but foments poverty and chaos worldwide.
So, again, be grateful for small things.