Word: farmers
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...Most farmers say they'd rather not accept subsidies--if they didn't have to comply with so many government regulations, compete with subsidized farmers abroad and deal with commodity prices beyond their control. And don't get them started on the rising costs of their machinery, inputs and fuel. But their main arguments are that we'd spend more on food in a world without subsidies and that dependence on foreign protein would be even worse than our dependence on foreign oil. "The subsidies help keep us in business, so we can play in the dirt...
...ensuring cheap food is not the real goal of the system. Farmers rightfully complain that they don't set food prices; they only receive a few pennies from the sale of every loaf of bread or box of cornflakes. When commodities are cheap, the main beneficiaries are well-heeled grain -and-livestock processors like Cargill, Tyson and Archer Daniels Midland. No, the real goal has always been to protect farmers from the vagaries of the weather and the market. Farming is indeed a risky business--most businesses are risky businesses--and farm policies have tried to reduce that risk...
...slash tariffs and other barriers on everything from cars to software to wood to wine to legal and financial services. But for several years, our reluctance to cut farm supports has stalled the talks, kneecapping American firms ranging from Microsoft to FedEx to Anheuser-Busch, and even American farmers who rely on exports. "The problem is a vested political constituency that's absolutely committed to the status quo," says retired California Congressman Cal Dooley, a former cotton and walnut farmer who leads the Grocery Manufacturers Association. "That's the main obstacle to free trade...
...members tell me they felt sorry for Ron, I was stomping him so bad," Peterson said with a grin. "If I had put down the hammer, I could've taken him under 100." As they watched the debate, with its predictable tributes to hardworking family farmers, frustrated reformers filled out "Farm Bill Bingo" cards with aggie catchphrases like "farmer-friendly," "dismantling the safety net" and "East Coast media...
...Craft restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles, says food costs still make up 28% to 32% of an entrée's price--only now that means some of his entrées are $50. "The high-end restaurants are looking for stuff made by the small farmer, and this stuff just costs more money," he says. "If you have a small farmer that makes 40 chickens a week, it's going to cost more than a factory farm that's making 4,000 chickens a week...