Farm subsidies and food politics

Farm subsidies have become increasingly maligned in agricultural policy debates, but the merits of subsidies are a distraction from deeper political, economic, and ecological problems in agriculture. Drawing on a history of the U.S. Farm Bill, this paper argues that a fixation on farm subsidies ignores why they came into being, and more generally glosses over the imperative for modern states to intervene into agricultural economies. Karl Polanyi's 'double movement' framework is used to situate the rise and fall of agricultural supply management within food regime theory. In the second, or surplus food regime, the U.S. government wielded excess commodities as geopolitical toolsdeven as domestic farm policy labored to contain overproduction, and thus support agrarian viability. In the subsequent corporate food regime, " free market " agriculture displaces and discredits supply management, even as massive government intervention into how food is grown and sold continues. Making space to remember historical price support programs, to situate their accomplishments and limitations, and to recognize residual supply-management mechanisms (such as farm cooperatives and agricultural marketing orders) is crucial for fostering agricultural viability in the US and beyond. Twentieth century supply management had flaws, but it cannot be wholly omitted. This paper highlights key motivations, elements, and contradictions of these policies and programs to begin the process of considering how supply management principles and strategies could be updated and enhanced for 21st century agriculture. Such a framework would need to pay more attention to diversity within domestic and international agricultures, and be more sensitive to the multi-scalar dimensions of food systems.

Sinopse: "O presente livro do Thiago Lima capta, de maneira inédita, a diversidade de funções que o setor agrícola passou a cumprir, justamente no centro da economia mundial pós-guerra, nos Estados Unidos. A partir da análise dos Complexos Agroindustriais, o livro mostra como a política de subsídios dos Estados Unidos transformou a agricultura do país, submetendo-a aos interesses de acumulação dos diversos monopólios ao longo de uma grande cadeia produtiva, desde as empresas fornecedoras de equipamentos, produtos químicos e sementes até processadores de alimentos e redes de supermercados, passando por todo de tipo de rentista: grandes bancos, seguradoras e proprietários de terra. A análise se estende à exportação do modelo ao mundo e à construção de um novo sistema agroalimentar global sob a liderança dos EUA. Demonstra, com clareza analítica e rigor empírico, que a questão dos subsídios é uma questão de reprodução de um capitalismo obsolescente."

This chapter provides an analysis of product specific support to wheat
in Turkey during 1995–2003. Like many other developing countries,
Turkey also provides price support to producers of agricultural
commodities. The Turkish Grain Board (TMO) TMO is protecting the interest of farmers by procuring grains at administered prices from producers who are not able to obtain higher prices in the commercial market. In this chapter, it is found that Turkey has exceeded the de minimis limit in some years and is facing challenges to implement food security policy under the existing provisions of AoA.

... Alkerman, SV , 2009-07-22 "Luchas conjuntas de Países Emergentes en torno a las Políticas Agrícolas en la OMC: Seguridad Alimentaria, Estrategias de Desarrollo y de Inserción Internacional" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the ISA - ABRI JOINT INTERNATIONAL ...