He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.But, what if there is barely any corn to neither hoard nor sell? I missed my topical opportunity of discussing the drought in July and early August when extreme heat in the Midwest shriveled corn crops. I want to take a reflective look at the situation where it stands today.
Most currently, as corn prices rise as predicted, farmers are taking extreme measures when it comes to feeding their herds:
(Video clip from newser article: "As Corn Prices Jump, Cattle Fed Candy")
Now rewind to 1985 (when I said reflective, I also meant retrospective)... Take a look at this video from the Family Farm Movement.
These farmers foresaw, not the presence of extreme weather conditions, no, but the consequences of the Farm Bill and corn subsidies. This was 27 years ago and corn subsidies are still in place. Well, now we see that when we subsidize one crop (or only a few crops I should say) and then something devastating occurs be it weather or disease, our food system is compromised. The shaky foundation we've built with the corn we sow means we create a dependency on it and when it falters, we falter. We pay more for food, which is of course all the more stressful for those already unable to afford food (at least nutritious food) already. We homogenize our diet (as unlikely as it may APPEAR, our diets today are not as diverse as we'd like to think).
Edit 2/18/13--
I thought I published this post ages ago, back when it would've been much more topical. But guess what? Unfortunately, it's still topical. Where are we (the U.S. government) in terms of a new Farm Bill? Not quite so far as we've hoped I'm afraid. Although the new Farm Bill been slow coming, there is a lot to be seen this year: Predictions for 2013 in food politics by Marion Nestle.
Thanks for reading! And don't forget I love contributions of any kind!
--Rosin
