Food, Inc.

[Katy]

Quote:
We grow wheat, corn and soybeans and we have a cow herd. You send me your pay stubs and I'll share our financial info with you.....

Sorry, didn't mean to be intrusive. It's just that you say you can grow anything, but there are only certain crops that receive subsidies. The government is therefore supporting certain kinds of crops over others. I don't know if folks are actually forbidden from growing all but certain types of crops, but there certainly are disincentives.

And I believe all the crops you mentioned are eligible for subsidies. I won't ask you if they are because that would be intruding again.

For the most part any subsidies they pay don't amount to much. Yes, all those crops are eligible for subsidies as long as your farm has a crop base history for that crop. I will say we do not recieve subsidies on all three that I listed because of our farm's crop base. What we recieve does not even cover the input costs to put the crop out...let alone give us any profit. What a farmer decides to grow may impact his involvement in the farm program, but the government is not mandating us what to grow. Most of us may be limited in what crops we can grow, but it's because of the climate we live in or the types of soil that we have....not because the government told us we can't.

That's funny because this movie shows how the government is mandating that farmers in the midwest grow only corn or soybeans. Most farmers can't grow what they want....
If this as you stated is what the movie is spouting it just reinforces my belief that it's just another movie made by people who don't have clue what they're talking about.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Yup! No one is growing lettuce, oranges or brocolli around here, but that is because they cant.

We do have the usual corn and alfalfa, and wheat. Not to many soybeans, they don't do good here. Sunflowers, and things like potatoes, onions, melons, peppers and tomatoes, pumpkins etc.

I love seeing big fields of juicy melons ripening in the sun!

Our biggest crop by far is beef, and it is not like I have read either. I TOTALLY agree that beef should not be hormone and antibiotic fed, but a lot of the stuff you read is just not true.

I think they take SOME farms/corporations/factories methods, and apply it to everyone.

 

[warmfuzzies]

I can't spell.....

 

[Buster52]

But there is a government mandate for you to grow certain crops. If you grow something else outside of your "crop base history", you don't receive the subsidy.

And while subsidies don't actually give you a profit by themselves, they certainly can't hurt your bottom line.

It appears that while the situation is far from black and white, I see nothing in your situation that contradicts what I have read about the current agribusiness system. The government supports some crops at the expense of others.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
So are you saying beef cattle in your area go straight from a grass pasture to a slaughterhouse without spending any time in a feedlot eating corn before being slaughtered?

 

[warmfuzzies]

Nope, I diddnt say that at all!

I said it is not like some things I have read! They dont normally go to the feedlot at 6 months old, they dont normally spend a year or more there, they dont eat only corn there, and they dont hate it there.

Thats about it.

"grain fed" is really a misnomer. There is grain there, but there are also many other things added, that make it a balanced diet. Much like purchased chicken feed.

Now, after saying that, I will also say that homeraised beef is much tastier! We would normally raise them to around 18-24 months on pasture, supplemented with hay of course. We dont have enough moisture to have totally 'grass fed' cows. Then they would get about 6-8 weeks in a corral, eating alfalfa hay and grain, to 'finish' them. That allows time for their muscles to relax after being on pasture, and helps keep them from being tough. Thats how we raise them for our own freezers.

Many feedlot steers are only in there for a simular period of time, it all depends. Some are in there longer, too. What they say IS true for some beef, it is just not true for all, or even MOST beef. A lot of it depends on what kind of cow it is, on when they are born, on how much pasture there is, on what kind of breeding schedule the rancher has, etc.

 

[warmfuzzies]

P.S. Where in the WORLD is Geronimo?????

 

[Katy]

Quote:
According to the dictionary a mandate is an order or a command....so no, the government does not mandate us to grow anything. It's our choice what to grow.

No, I suppose they don't hurt our bottom line, but they don't really make much of an impact either. They are not what keeps us in business.

I've seen a list of what kind of crops recieve some kind of government support payments. I was looking for it, but I can't find it right now. I do remember a few of the more odd things that recieve payments are mohair and honey....so it isn't just corn, wheat etc that recieve payments.

I do have a question for you Buster52....I'm curious, do you have any direct involvement in agribusiness...either as a farmer or a business linked to farming?

 

[Lady Henevere]

Quote:
Here's the breakdown in 2007 subsidies, from http://farm.ewg.org/dp_analysis.php

1 Direct Payment - Corn $2,048,116,614
2 Direct Payment - Wheat $1,092,800,323
3 Direct Payment - Upland Cotton $586,187,836
4 Direct Payment - Soybeans $574,640,511
5 Direct Payment - Rice $414,411,200
6 Direct Payment - Sorghum $189,455,101
7 Direct Payment - Barley $76,598,425
8 Direct Payment - Peanuts $67,670,907
9 Direct Payment - Sunflower $12,838,968
10 Direct Payment - Canola $4,811,215
11 Direct Payment - Oats $2,862,886
12 Direct Payment - Flax $800,765
13 Direct Payment - Safflower $447,611
14 Direct Payment - Crambe Seed $137,998
15 Direct Payment - Mustard Seed $116,367
16 Direct Payment - Rapeseed $11,297
17 Direct Payment - Sesame $1,962

When you're looking at more than $5 billion in direct payments in a year for foods that tend to end up in processed junk foods, there's a systemic issue that needs to be questioned. It's not about mandates for farmers, but incentives that end up benefiting the big food corporations. The movie is a broad overview of certain practices specific to industrial food production, so of course there are many exceptions that are not applicable to the subject of the film.

 

[Davaroo]

Here's the breakdown in 2007 subsidies, from http://farm.ewg.org/dp_analysis.php

1 Direct Payment - Corn $2,048,116,614
2 Direct Payment - Wheat $1,092,800,323
3 Direct Payment - Upland Cotton $586,187,836
4 Direct Payment - Soybeans $574,640,511
5 Direct Payment - Rice $414,411,200
6 Direct Payment - Sorghum $189,455,101
7 Direct Payment - Barley $76,598,425
8 Direct Payment - Peanuts $67,670,907
9 Direct Payment - Sunflower $12,838,968
10 Direct Payment - Canola $4,811,215
11 Direct Payment - Oats $2,862,886
12 Direct Payment - Flax $800,765
13 Direct Payment - Safflower $447,611
14 Direct Payment - Crambe Seed $137,998
15 Direct Payment - Mustard Seed $116,367
16 Direct Payment - Rapeseed $11,297
17 Direct Payment - Sesame $1,962

Crambe seed?​