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Agricultural Economist Has Growing Concerns

The insanity of farm subsidies just one facet of wide-ranging Q&A with Daniel Sumner

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 25, 2008 1:45 PM CDT

(Newser) – Is there any way to justify US farm subsidies? Agricultural economist Daniel Sumner has a blunt answer: “No.” In an in-depth interview with the New York Times, Sumner takes on a broad range of agricultural topics, explaining the trouble with organic food (it’s too expensive), the problems with local food (it’s often inefficient) and, of course, the insanity of subsidies.

 His points include:

  • High-fructose corn syrup is only popular because of US tariffs on sugar.
  • Locally grown food only works when something is in season locally, and besides, sometimes distant areas can grow/raise the item more efficiently.
  • If dairy subsidies were eliminated tomorrow, a gallon of milk in Chicago would cost 20 cents less.
  • Organic foods will never replace mass-produced ones; they’re just too expensive.
  • Biofuel demand and policies may be responsible for up to 50% of recent food price inflation.

Evan Webb, left, and Erik Yablou harvest organic potatoes on July 23, 2008, at Piedmont Biofarm in Pittsboro, NC
Evan Webb, left, and Erik Yablou harvest organic potatoes on July 23, 2008, at Piedmont Biofarm in Pittsboro, NC   (AP Photo)
A man puts a cage back in its place at the birds sector of the Rural Society's annual exposition in Buenos Aires, Thursday, July 24, 2008.
A man puts a cage back in its place at the birds sector of the Rural Society's annual exposition in Buenos Aires, Thursday, July 24, 2008.   (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Visitors look at farm products on sale at the Rural Society's annual exposition in Buenos Aires yesterday.
Visitors look at farm products on sale at the Rural Society's annual exposition in Buenos Aires yesterday.   (AP Photo)
Farm workers make their way across a field shrouded in fog as they hoe weeds from a tobacco crop near Warsaw, Ky., July 10, 2008.
Farm workers make their way across a field shrouded in fog as they hoe weeds from a tobacco crop near Warsaw, Ky., July 10, 2008.   (AP Photo)
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