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Isn't it a little strange to cite the increase of corn and soy as evidence against the viability of the local food movement without mentioning the global increa

Isn't it a little strange to cite the increase of corn and soy as evidence against the viability of the local food movement without mentioning the global increase in demand for those products?

canvia 12y ago
It also ignores the subsidies being provided.
- jaegerpicker 12y ago
  This is what I came to point out. Sure farm to table should help us be more diverse in our food selection but the ABSOLUTELY gobsmackingly large subsidies the farmers throughout the Midwest and west are given to grow soy and corn is the main reason we haven't seen a massive change yet. I also highly doubt that 80% of American shoppers care about sustainability when buying grosicies, but all I have to back that up is experience not actually science.
  - jqm 12y ago
    The subsidies are ridiculous and they should be reformed but food is a pretty important thing for a society to get right. If left strictly to market forces there may be some years with very very expensive corn which would hit the poorest of the poor worldwide. Corn isn't like silicon chips where you just fire up the plant and make some more. You are looking possibly a year or more out. So there does need to be some measure of central planning in this regard.
    - wtbob 12y ago
      Why do you need central planning? All you need is insurance and crop futures, traded on a free market, to even out the price spikes and troughs.
disbelief 12y ago
I'm missing the link between his introduction about corn and soy and his core thesis of supporting crop rotation. Is he saying that supporting these less glamorous crops will somehow reduce the global intake of factory-farmed corn and soy?
001sky 12y ago
The constrainst from going from nich market to mass market are detailed in the piece--they are supply side issues and they are technical. The demand-side is taken as a given that there is plent of demand. The reason that there is no substitution effect (ie inverse correlation) between the demand of local food and corn/soy is that the supply is not fully reflecting the demand. The corn-syrup and ethanol issues are themselves distinct enough to leave out of the discussion. To a first-order approximation, they are not the problem.

Isn't it a little strange to cite the increase of corn and soy as evidence against the viability of the local food movement without mentioning the global increase in demand for those products?

canvia 12y ago

It also ignores the subsidies being provided.

jaegerpicker 12y ago
This is what I came to point out. Sure farm to table should help us be more diverse in our food selection but the ABSOLUTELY gobsmackingly large subsidies the farmers throughout the Midwest and west are given to grow soy and corn is the main reason we haven't seen a massive change yet. I also highly doubt that 80% of American shoppers care about sustainability when buying grosicies, but all I have to back that up is experience not actually science.
- jqm 12y ago
  The subsidies are ridiculous and they should be reformed but food is a pretty important thing for a society to get right. If left strictly to market forces there may be some years with very very expensive corn which would hit the poorest of the poor worldwide. Corn isn't like silicon chips where you just fire up the plant and make some more. You are looking possibly a year or more out. So there does need to be some measure of central planning in this regard.
  - wtbob 12y ago
    Why do you need central planning? All you need is insurance and crop futures, traded on a free market, to even out the price spikes and troughs.

disbelief 12y ago

I'm missing the link between his introduction about corn and soy and his core thesis of supporting crop rotation. Is he saying that supporting these less glamorous crops will somehow reduce the global intake of factory-farmed corn and soy?

001sky 12y ago

The constrainst from going from nich market to mass market are detailed in the piece--they are supply side issues and they are technical. The demand-side is taken as a given that there is plent of demand. The reason that there is no substitution effect (ie inverse correlation) between the demand of local food and corn/soy is that the supply is not fully reflecting the demand. The corn-syrup and ethanol issues are themselves distinct enough to leave out of the discussion. To a first-order approximation, they are not the problem.