Comments on: The Children of the Corn Subsidies http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/ Christopher Lydon in conversation on arts, ideas and politics Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:09:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: jennhx.com » this ain’t corny http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73382 jennhx.com » this ain’t corny Mon, 25 Sep 2006 23:00:39 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73382 [...] rful Terry Gross really draws out her subjects and creates a riveting, flowing interview.) Michael Pollan & others on Radio Open Source The book The Omnivore’ [...] [...] rful Terry Gross really draws out her subjects and creates a riveting, flowing interview.) Michael Pollan & others on Radio Open Source The book The Omnivore’ [...]

]]> By: the form of function » Blog Archive » So sweet it kills me http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73381 the form of function » Blog Archive » So sweet it kills me Sat, 15 Jul 2006 16:11:06 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73381 [...] a cycle. Check out these articles, they are good all-purpose reads for the HFCS situation: The Children of the Corn Subsidies- a [...] [...] a cycle. Check out these articles, they are good all-purpose reads for the HFCS situation: The Children of the Corn Subsidies- a [...]

]]> By: Beam Reach » Blog Archive » The City Has Eyes http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73380 Beam Reach » Blog Archive » The City Has Eyes Sun, 18 Jun 2006 23:30:47 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73380 [...] Anyways, the game is hilarious and it is free to try, I highly recommend checking it out. The Children of the Corn Subsidies: The May [...] [...] Anyways, the game is hilarious and it is free to try, I highly recommend checking it out. The Children of the Corn Subsidies: The May [...]

]]> By: allison http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73379 allison Thu, 11 May 2006 22:51:12 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73379 I'm not sure that the incomes you mention are only from the one crop. This farmer said he also grows soy beans. Small family farms are not making profits these days. Except maybe some niche market farms. I’m not sure that the incomes you mention are only from the one crop. This farmer said he also grows soy beans.

Small family farms are not making profits these days. Except maybe some niche market farms.

]]> By: injapan2 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73378 injapan2 Thu, 11 May 2006 16:26:45 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73378 Sorry, the income is not farmer's income but the income from the farm itself. (Does not include any side jobs or other sources of income.) Sorry, the income is not farmer’s income but the income from the farm itself. (Does not include any side jobs or other sources of income.)

]]> By: injapan2 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73377 injapan2 Thu, 11 May 2006 16:22:24 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73377 I think a very key point was missed which I noticed while listening to the prices of corn production on my podcast player. According to the farmer on the program, he received $35,000 in subsidies, and then stated that the statistical cost of growing corn is somewhere around $2 per bushel. Later he stated the selling price of corn at $1.50 a bushel (my numbers may be slightly off, but near enough for my point). Therefore a farmer woulding be loosing $.5 a bushel, and that would mean all our farmer friend and his fellow farmers making corn would be the poorest of the poor. (Average amount of corn bushels per acre in Illinois= 145 x 300 stated acres the farmer said he had at -.5 dollars an acre -$21,750 for the said farmer's farm yields, leaving him with $13,250 of the subsidy. However, the income of the average farm in Illinois is $90,700 for 2004 (a good year) and $43,600 for 2005. I could not tell if this included subsidies or not. (http://www.thesoydailyclub.com/Farm&Market/farmincome01102006.asp) However, it does easily show that the information and tear jerking statistics given from the farmer were misleading and mistaken at best. Farmers make profits without subsidies (though how much is vague) and that his estimate of costs was obviously fantasy. I think a very key point was missed which I noticed while listening to the prices of corn production on my podcast player. According to the farmer on the program, he received $35,000 in subsidies, and then stated that the statistical cost of growing corn is somewhere around $2 per bushel. Later he stated the selling price of corn at $1.50 a bushel (my numbers may be slightly off, but near enough for my point). Therefore a farmer woulding be loosing $.5 a bushel, and that would mean all our farmer friend and his fellow farmers making corn would be the poorest of the poor. (Average amount of corn bushels per acre in Illinois= 145 x 300 stated acres the farmer said he had at -.5 dollars an acre -$21,750 for the said farmer’s farm yields, leaving him with $13,250 of the subsidy. However, the income of the average farm in Illinois is $90,700 for 2004 (a good year) and $43,600 for 2005. I could not tell if this included subsidies or not. (http://www.thesoydailyclub.com/Farm&Market/farmincome01102006.asp) However, it does easily show that the information and tear jerking statistics given from the farmer were misleading and mistaken at best. Farmers make profits without subsidies (though how much is vague) and that his estimate of costs was obviously fantasy.

]]> By: prock http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73376 prock Thu, 11 May 2006 15:39:53 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73376 I think the corn farmer hit the nail on the head. The answer is that we simply have to pay a lot more for our food - which should be sustainably produced. I think the corn farmer hit the nail on the head. The answer is that we simply have to pay a lot more for our food – which should be sustainably produced.

]]> By: khandro http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73375 khandro Thu, 11 May 2006 06:05:20 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73375 Oops, meant to suggest that we hear from Paul Hawken on this (or any!) topic of this nature. Oops, meant to suggest that we hear from Paul Hawken on this (or any!) topic of this nature.

]]> By: khandro http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73374 khandro Thu, 11 May 2006 05:46:28 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73374 Great program, but I only ever catch the last few minutes. This time I was listening intently to the non-rational/corn/ethanol/fuel/consumer price of gasoline part at the end and someone, I'd like to know who (because I don't remember it clearly enough), went on to say exactly the thing I didn't even know I was hoping to hear: We have it all wrong. The way to rationalize these relationships is to consider the total (read hidden) cost of our food. The fuel (of any source) that goes into getting food onto our tables is not adequately or accurately reflected in the price of that food. We want it cheap, we buy it cheap, but the real cost is staggering. I don't have a national much less an international solution to a problem of mind-numbing complexity, rife with price fixing and corruption as well as aching need, but I do something, have been doing something for decades that I think makes good sense economically, health-wise, and in the context of "think globally act locally", something I take very seriously (while trying not to take myself that seriously, folks!) It is simply that I try to eat pursuant to my latitude. I love bananas and citrus but rarely buy them. Out of season strawberries from Mexico taste like the cardboard they come in so I wait till they're ripe locally. What would the Mexican farmers grow if not strawberries for wealthy gringos up north? Maybe the corn they need for their own families and industries. The entire food supply/distribution/consumption pattern, as odious as it is, boils down to what we (those of us with enough resource and resources to even consider such things; we're not watching our children starve after all) are willing to do without. I can't do without coffee yet, but I'd be willing to try if it meant that acreage in Columbia in coffee would be turned into acreage for local foodstuffs. Likewise, I'd like to see acres of fertilized/pesticided/overwatered lawns, golf courses (sorry folks, personal opinion here!), and other swathes of fertile mid-latitude lands like ours turned into local fruit, berry and nut orchards, as well as community vegetable gardens. There is no intrinsic reason besides habit, wealth, and industry (an unholy trinity if ever) that keeps us wedded and bedded to fuel dependency linked to food supply. Other cultures and nations may not have the flexibility or luxury of these ruminations, but we do, I do. Without a sense of personal connection, even just a person of one, a kind of hopelessness can set in and then nothing changes. It was just that hoplessness that I was feeling, yet again, near the end of your program and then the speaker spoke and I nodded and agreed and was prompted to write. Thanks, and if someone knows who made those comments, in the last few minutes, I'd like to know. Great program, but I only ever catch the last few minutes. This time I was listening intently to the non-rational/corn/ethanol/fuel/consumer price of gasoline part at the end and someone, I’d like to know who (because I don’t remember it clearly enough), went on to say exactly the thing I didn’t even know I was hoping to hear: We have it all wrong. The way to rationalize these relationships is to consider the total (read hidden) cost of our food. The fuel (of any source) that goes into getting food onto our tables is not adequately or accurately reflected in the price of that food. We want it cheap, we buy it cheap, but the real cost is staggering. I don’t have a national much less an international solution to a problem of mind-numbing complexity, rife with price fixing and corruption as well as aching need, but I do something, have been doing something for decades that I think makes good sense economically, health-wise, and in the context of “think globally act locally”, something I take very seriously (while trying not to take myself that seriously, folks!) It is simply that I try to eat pursuant to my latitude. I love bananas and citrus but rarely buy them. Out of season strawberries from Mexico taste like the cardboard they come in so I wait till they’re ripe locally. What would the Mexican farmers grow if not strawberries for wealthy gringos up north? Maybe the corn they need for their own families and industries. The entire food supply/distribution/consumption pattern, as odious as it is, boils down to what we (those of us with enough resource and resources to even consider such things; we’re not watching our children starve after all) are willing to do without. I can’t do without coffee yet, but I’d be willing to try if it meant that acreage in Columbia in coffee would be turned into acreage for local foodstuffs. Likewise, I’d like to see acres of fertilized/pesticided/overwatered lawns, golf courses (sorry folks, personal opinion here!), and other swathes of fertile mid-latitude lands like ours turned into local fruit, berry and nut orchards, as well as community vegetable gardens. There is no intrinsic reason besides habit, wealth, and industry (an unholy trinity if ever) that keeps us wedded and bedded to fuel dependency linked to food supply. Other cultures and nations may not have the flexibility or luxury of these ruminations, but we do, I do. Without a sense of personal connection, even just a person of one, a kind of hopelessness can set in and then nothing changes. It was just that hoplessness that I was feeling, yet again, near the end of your program and then the speaker spoke and I nodded and agreed and was prompted to write. Thanks, and if someone knows who made those comments, in the last few minutes, I’d like to know.

]]> By: Jon Garfunkel http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73373 Jon Garfunkel Thu, 11 May 2006 05:15:19 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/the-children-of-the-corn-subsidies/#comment-73373 odchere-- the NAFTA angle was discussed this evening. Somebody (Pollan?) noted that we're getting fatter while Mexicans are going hungrey (since they are no longer being protected from our subsidized corn). odchere– the NAFTA angle was discussed this evening. Somebody (Pollan?) noted that we’re getting fatter while Mexicans are going hungrey (since they are no longer being protected from our subsidized corn).

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