NAFTA at 20: State of the North American Farmer

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/12/22-1


NAFTA opened the doors for a flood of subsidized agricultural products and large-scale consolidation, eviscerating small farmers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo: Bread for the World / Flickr)

One of the clearest stories to emerge in the two decades since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented is the devastation wreaked on the Mexican countryside by dramatic increases in imports of cheap U.S. corn.

But while Mexican farmers, especially small-scale farmers, undoubtedly lost from the deal, that doesn’t mean that U.S. farmers have won. Prices for agricultural goods have been on a roller coaster of extreme price volatility — caused by unfair agriculture policies and recklessly unregulated speculation on commodity markets, as well as by increasing droughts and other climate chaos. Each time prices take their terrifying ride back down, more small- and medium-scale farmers are forced into bankruptcy, concentrating land ownership and agricultural production into ever fewer hands.

Corporate Consolidation

It’s hard to separate the impacts of NAFTA from another big change in U.S. farm policy: the 1996 Farm Bill. That legislation set in place a shift from supply management and regulated markets to a policy of “get big or get out.” Farmers were encouraged to increase production with the promise of expanded export markets — including to Mexico. But almost immediately, commodity prices dropped like a stone, and Congress turned to “emergency” payments — later codified as farm subsidies — to clean up the mess and keep rural economies afloat.

Then, as new demand for biofuels increased the demand for corn, and as investors turned away from failing mortgage markets to speculate on grains, energy, and other commodities, prices soared. It wasn’t only the prices of farm goods that rose, however. Prices also increased for land, fuel, fertilizers, and other petrochemical-based agrochemicals. As a result, net farm incomes became much more erratic.

[marmar]

1. k/r

[Le Taz Hot]

2. The popularity of Farmers' Markets

here in the San Joaquin Valley has helped our local farmers enormously. The customer gets FRESH, locally-grown produce that is IN SEASON and hasn't travelled hundreds or thousands of miles. PLUS the farmers get the benefit of getting paid directly for their produce without the middle man.

I realize that not everyone has year-round farmers markets and some areas don't have them at all but, if you do, please consider buying your produce from them.

Btw, not all farmers markets are the same. Some allow re-sellers, some don't. Here's how you tell whether or not a vendor is an actual farmer or a reseller:

- Look at the names on the boxes containing the produce they're selling. If there are different names, different locations, that's a reseller.
- Ask them where their farm is located. A farmer will not only tell you where his/her farm is located, they'll give you directions on how to get there. If it's a reseller you get a lot of hemming and hawing.
- If they're trying to sell you out-of-season produce (strawberries in January, peaches in February), they're most likely a reseller unless they have a hothouse/greenhouse.
- If their produce tastes like cardboard, they're probably a reseller.

[loudsue]

3. Nafta is a corporatist idea, just like the new TPP is about to be.

People need to step in and stop this shit.