What's that got to do with the price of free range beef in Philly?

[nancylebov]

So I go to the farmer who'd got really good beef at phenomenal prices ($7/pound for most roasts), and practically nothing is below $9/pound.

I ask politely, and he says that the subsidies for grain are what's doing it. Even though he doesn't feed grain to his animals, they've driven up the price of land so much that it's affecting him. I'm not sure how, maybe by way of what he has to pay for loans.

I want those subsidies gone. They might have felt reasonable after the depression, when the big deal was making sure people got enough calories. However, it's turned into a monster, and I expect the same thing would happen if there were subsidies for fruits and veggies, "organic" food, free range meat, and/or locally grown food.

Comments

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

I'd divide subsidy recipients into these categories:

1. established large industries that don't need them and may make a bad (speculative) use of them

2. new industries that need help getting established (green energy, etc)

3. pioneers of research in worthwhile areas (green energy, etc)

Unfortunately, Category 1 can get and keep the most subsidies.