kickAAS

A tale of two planets

The world produced enough food to feed 12 billion people last year - almost twice the world's population according to UN official Jean Ziegler,  yet 854 million people went without food. The reason? $350 billion dollars are being spent on agricultural subsidies by industrialised countries.

So what is being done about it? It's business as usual in the US where a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee unanimously rubberstamped an extension of existing commodity farm subsidies for the next five years, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, an organization that monitors excessive government spending.

The Wilder side of subsidies

Arise Maurice Wilder, newly crowned  king of the subsidies. He received $2.5 million in farm handouts from 2003 to 2005, according to the Environmental Working Group, making him the single biggest single recipient. Even the Bush administration is becoming embarrassed by the welfare state created for farmers. The president is thinking of limiting handouts to farmers to an adjusted $200,000 per household.
This is a step in he right direction but per household? If this goes through stand by for a rush of downsizing among farmers as they split into smaller units owned by other family members or newly created companies to get round this. There is only one way to avoid abuse - abolish all farm subsidies now releasing  billions of dollars for the exchequer and giving poor countries a level playing field from which to export.

Name and shame . . .

The US administration is making it easier to discover the individuals who are the main recipients of America's massive distribution of subsidies to farmers according to CBC news. The trouble is they don't seem to have any shame.