The Economics of Food
There’s a disturbing article in the NYTimes this morning entitled Food is gold so billions invested in farming. The article talks about how the Wall Street Weenies are now investing in Farmland and the other infrastructure that farming depends on, such as grain elevators, equipment suppliers, and other essentials for the production of food. From the article:
There are a lot of problems with Mr. Hinsch’s statement, which is marketing, pure and simple.
First of all, we are people. We are not “consumers”, though we need to literally consume food in order to live. We also need to consume the right food. Nutritious food. Food that is free of poisons, pathogens and parasites. And therein lies the problem.
Whenever Wall Street gets involved in something this critical to the wellbeing of people, you can bet someone, and probably many someones and most on the lower end of the economic ladder, will be hurt. Their degree of involvement so far has given us an overly technological approach to farming that have resulted in Factory Farms, where animals are not treated like animals, plants are genetically modified, all emphasis is put on subsidy crops to the detriment of healthy food, and stewardship of the land and animals is totally ignored, resulting in less productive land and more petrochemical fertilizer and pesticide poison use. The result? Pollution, new and mysterious diseases, the disappearance of bees, the pollution of groundwater, increase of CO2 due to deforestation, parasite infestations in both animals and humans, an obesity epidemic, Mad Cow Disease, and much, much more that is to the detriment of our planet and our people.
It was bad enough what the Wall Street Weenies did to our mortgage and housing markets with their Steering of Minorities into risky SubPrime Mortgages and causing the meltdown of our whole financial system. One can only imagine what they’ll do to our food supply as they rape and pillage new territory.
I just wish Congress had gotten it right with the Farm Bill this time. But Lobbying Money from the Wall Street Weenies won out again.
