$10.3 million.
That’s how much the American Soybean Association just landed from the U.S. government to help build markets overseas.
Interestingly, soy is already the highest valued U.S. agricultural export bringing in more than $8 billion a year. But never mind the particulars. Your tax dollars are burning a hole in Uncle Sam’s pocket, and your wealth needs to be distributed ASAP.
That’s where the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP) comes into play.
We just learned that the Department of Agriculture has ponied up $200 million in cost-sharing funds to help promote U.S. farm exports. Of that $200 million, $173.2 million was funneled through the MAP, with Cotton Council International, the U.S. Meat Export Federation and the Food Export Association of the Midwest collecting the biggest checks.
Of course, $200 million is peanuts compared to the $152.5 billion generated through farm exports in fiscal year 2014. Which begs the question, why do these organizations need financial assistance in the first place?
Honoring Free Market Principles
Last week, while attending the Slow Money conference in Louisville, KY, I met a number of farmers, producers and distributors that were seeking funding for everything from expansion projects to equipment allocation.
These are folks who feed their communities, not corn syrup processors and ethanol producers. They honor the land, help build local economies and provide a much-needed hedge against a growing dependency on nutritionally-deficient industrial food.
They will not be dipping their beaks in that $200 million!
No, these are folks who don’t lobby the government for handouts, but instead honor free market principles by allowing the laws of supply and demand to dictate their success or failure.
Now one of the reasons I don’t buy industrially produced food is because I prefer nutrient-dense nourishment over the toxic slop that’s regularly pumped out from the industrial Ag machine. But admittedly, I also prefer to support real farmers over government-subsidized monstrosities.
I’d much rather back a righteous farmer by paying a few bucks more for a better product. And by the way, it’s a “few bucks more,” because that farmer has to price his goods in absence of government support.
So as Thanksgiving approaches, in honor of the principled local, organic farmer – and in defiance of the government’s subsidized food scam – consider sourcing your holiday edibles locally.
Whether its your entire meal, a turkey or even the sweet potatoes for your sweet potato pie, every food dollar you spend locally is an act of food sovereignty.
To find a responsible, local farmer in your neck of the woods, click here.
