The Importance of Government Programs in Agriculture
It is best for both producers and consumers if prices remain stable. As K. Robinson notes, “[p]ublic interest in programs designed to stabilize prices tends to increase whenever farm prices rise dramatically [. . .], while producer interest in such programs is usually greatest when prices are failing.” To keep the prices stable for producers, the government has a target price program. The government decides what the price should be for a particular crop; if that crop’s actual price does not reach the target price, the government pays the farmer the difference. On the other hand, if the actual price exceeds the target price, the farmers get the extra profit. To keep the prices stable for consumers, the government must buy some of the extra products to take them off the market or stop the production of the product that is in excess.
To stop the excess production, the government will pay farmers not to produce their product. If overproduction were allowed to continue, prices would fall since the demand is not rising with the supply, thus the supply curve shifts to the right. After the price has dropped, those farmers would not plant that crop again. So without price stability programs, we may not be a country with plenty of food for long. Many of the programs that encourage price stability also encourage farmer income equality. As stated by R. Shoemaker et al, “[a]gricultural support programs raise total farm income, but in their absence, commodity production would decline, prices would rise, and the mix of crops would change as program crop producers shift to other crops.” The government programs are needed to prevent the supply curve from shifting. To maintain our current level of production and prices, these programs must not be taken away.
These programs do not only benefit farmers. Inspection of food is mainly there to protect the consumers. According to Eric Schlosser, “[e]very day in the United States, roughly 200,000 people are sickened by foodborne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and fourteen die.” However, with more compulsory government inspection policies for such places as meat packing plants, fewer people may die. Without any inspections, more people would get sick and die. Here in the United States, “[t]he Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.” Such programs help the consumers to feel that what they are eating is safe. Trust in the producers then results in more sales. Without such inspection programs, many people may become sick and die from food poisoning, as well as lose trust in the agricultural industry.
Despite the abundance of food, many people in this country are going hungry. Even though there is plenty of food in the United States today, that food still costs money. Some people that are too poor to afford food for their family may suffer from malnutrition and hunger if it were not for government programs put in place to help them. Due to the above-mentioned programs for price stability, the government has a surplus of food. Some of this food may be given away to food banks to feed the poor. However, not all of the hungry get their food from the food banks. There is also a food stamp program in place to help the poor as described on the USDA website:
The Food Stamp Program serves as the first line of defense against hunger. It enables low-income families to buy nutritious food with coupons and Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. Food stamp recipients spend their benefits to buy eligible food in authorized retail food stores. The Program is the cornerstone of the Federal food assistance programs, and provides crucial support to needy households and to those making the transition from welfare to work.
This program enables poor families to get the nutrition they need. Without such a program, many people would not be able to survive.
There is still a need in the United States today for government programs in agriculture. Programs are needed to ensure price stability and farmer income equality, the safety of food, and that the poor do not go hungry. There could be disaster if great fluctuations in the prices of agricultural goods were allowed. Without enabling farmers to make a decent living, we might not have enough farmers to grow our food. Lack of inspection would most likely result in an increase in death rate due to foodborne illnesses, while many of the poor may go hungry without government assistance. These government programs for agriculture benefit us all so that we will never cease to have plenty of food, as long as these programs stay in place.
