<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for A conversation with a spokesperson for the National Corn Growers Association and his friend from the]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Farm Bill Girl http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/ Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:34:37 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/1 AFT and NCGA = corporate free traders

AFT and NCGA are NOT that divergent. They represent a very pro-corporate, pro-free trade, pro-"free market" view of agriculture. Thus, Ralph's ridiculous comments about how easily farmers "react" to the markets. The problem of overproduction is one we have had for over a century now, regardless of subsidies, due to the nature of farm economics and farmers as price takers.

I fear a lot of folks may take a bad view of farmers from this interview. Not all farmers endorse the philosophy and policies of NCGA, which shows little concern about HCFS's impact on public health, nor the enviro impacts of fertilizer use.

The American Corn Growers Association is a splinter group of 11,000 corn farmers that truly only represents producers and broke off from
NCGA precisely because of their corporate free-trade views on agriculture. No Monsanto money for them! They are very criticial of the revenue scheme and how it simply represents a privatization of our farm programs. an ACGA board member is the one who rented the 1 acre to the guys who made King Corn.

http://acga.org/2007/092107.html

The issue of corporate consolidation (such as 3 companies controlling 85% of the grain market) never seems to trouble NCGA, nor AFT. Nor does the devastating impact of NAFTA, the WTO and "free trade" agreements, which results in our
dumping our cheap corn into foreign markets while undermining farmers here. It is quite disturbing to see folks like Sherrod Brown now carry
the water for these groups, who so are divergent from his views on trade, with this complicated revenue payment scheme.

And don't blame the sugar program for HCFS and the sad state of the American diet. The sugar program is a supply management approach (which does NOT dump on world markets) and no cost to the US govt because it sets a price floor (no subsidies needed). It should be how our other commodity programs should work, to save taxpayers money and make corporate agribiz pay a fair price for commodities. It's too bad the food processors and supermarkets complain, but sugar is still pretty damn cheap at my grocery store. The only reason why the world price is so low is because of Brazil, and they use slave labor on their plantations vs our unionized sugar
plants! that is NOT the model of agriculture we should be endorsing, but AFT wants more free trade. And why would we want to make sugar cheaper if we are so concerned about obesity/healthy foods? if corn had been at cost of production for these past decades (i.e. true parity enforced), HFCS would never have developed.




]]> AFT and NCGA = corporate free traders

AFT and NCGA are NOT that divergent. They represent a very pro-corporate, pro-free trade, pro-"free market" view of agriculture. Thus, Ralph's ridiculous comments about how easily farmers "react" to the markets. The problem of overproduction is one we have had for over a century now, regardless of subsidies, due to the nature of farm economics and farmers as price takers.

I fear a lot of folks may take a bad view of farmers from this interview. Not all farmers endorse the philosophy and policies of NCGA, which shows little concern about HCFS's impact on public health, nor the enviro impacts of fertilizer use.

The American Corn Growers Association is a splinter group of 11,000 corn farmers that truly only represents producers and broke off from
NCGA precisely because of their corporate free-trade views on agriculture. No Monsanto money for them! They are very criticial of the revenue scheme and how it simply represents a privatization of our farm programs. an ACGA board member is the one who rented the 1 acre to the guys who made King Corn.

http://acga.org/2007/092107.html

The issue of corporate consolidation (such as 3 companies controlling 85% of the grain market) never seems to trouble NCGA, nor AFT. Nor does the devastating impact of NAFTA, the WTO and "free trade" agreements, which results in our
dumping our cheap corn into foreign markets while undermining farmers here. It is quite disturbing to see folks like Sherrod Brown now carry
the water for these groups, who so are divergent from his views on trade, with this complicated revenue payment scheme.

And don't blame the sugar program for HCFS and the sad state of the American diet. The sugar program is a supply management approach (which does NOT dump on world markets) and no cost to the US govt because it sets a price floor (no subsidies needed). It should be how our other commodity programs should work, to save taxpayers money and make corporate agribiz pay a fair price for commodities. It's too bad the food processors and supermarkets complain, but sugar is still pretty damn cheap at my grocery store. The only reason why the world price is so low is because of Brazil, and they use slave labor on their plantations vs our unionized sugar
plants! that is NOT the model of agriculture we should be endorsing, but AFT wants more free trade. And why would we want to make sugar cheaper if we are so concerned about obesity/healthy foods? if corn had been at cost of production for these past decades (i.e. true parity enforced), HFCS would never have developed.




]]> Comment #2 by amc89 http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:55:41 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/2 Animal feed

I love a nice ear of local corn in the summertime as much as anybody, but these numbers ("the U.S. produces about 44 percent of the globe's corn crop") are quite concerning. You would think there would be no hunger in this country with that much corn.  

What can all do at the individual level is eat less meat, since such so much of the corn grown in this country is used as feed on factory farms, and when you do fancy some fresh corn on the cob, buy local corn at the farmer's market.  And we can all ask our legislators to stop these absurd subsidies.

]]> Animal feed

I love a nice ear of local corn in the summertime as much as anybody, but these numbers ("the U.S. produces about 44 percent of the globe's corn crop") are quite concerning. You would think there would be no hunger in this country with that much corn.  

What can all do at the individual level is eat less meat, since such so much of the corn grown in this country is used as feed on factory farms, and when you do fancy some fresh corn on the cob, buy local corn at the farmer's market.  And we can all ask our legislators to stop these absurd subsidies.

]]> Comment #3 by bookerly http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/ Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:37:32 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/3 Biofuels as a Crime


   A yahoo article has a UN official calling biofuels a crime against humanity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071027/ap_on_sc/un_food_vs_b ...

   The Bush response is basically "booooring" or perhaps "blah blah blah, we don't care".

   Sigh.

patrick in Beijing


]]> Biofuels as a Crime


   A yahoo article has a UN official calling biofuels a crime against humanity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071027/ap_on_sc/un_food_vs_b ...

   The Bush response is basically "booooring" or perhaps "blah blah blah, we don't care".

   Sigh.

patrick in Beijing


]]> Comment #4 by mtvyfan http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/ Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:01:46 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/the-corn-supremacy/4 Why no question about GMO bt corn?

I am disappointed that Mr. Philpott did not ask about GMO corn. We are currently consuming it due to Monsanto's release of this product into the food system, they say in error, but I wonder if it really was. GMOs are not very prominent in the media and many of the problems we are seeing with increased allergies in children could be contributed to this unauthorized experiment. Please read Jeffrey Smith's book Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. He tells the true story about this world-wide problem. Americans need to wake up before it's too late.

]]> Why no question about GMO bt corn?

I am disappointed that Mr. Philpott did not ask about GMO corn. We are currently consuming it due to Monsanto's release of this product into the food system, they say in error, but I wonder if it really was. GMOs are not very prominent in the media and many of the problems we are seeing with increased allergies in children could be contributed to this unauthorized experiment. Please read Jeffrey Smith's book Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. He tells the true story about this world-wide problem. Americans need to wake up before it's too late.

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