have you ever wondered why the cost of
meat can be cheaper
than a punnet of blueberries or why you
can buy burgers in fast food chains
for as little as one dollar the answer
is agricultural subsidies but what
exactly
are agricultural subsidies and how do
they work government subsidies are
financial grants
funded by the public's tax money and
given by the government
to private institutions or public
entities in order to drive down
production costs and make whatever
industry has been subsidized more
financially viable
agriculture subsidies are some of the
most well-known and also some of the
most
important subsidies that exist
especially in terms of
scale and societal significance
agriculture subsidies
are useful for protecting the nation's
food supply and can help farmers
during unforeseen events however
when it comes to subsidies it's not all
positive
for example it is reported that globally
the public provides more than one
million dollars per minute
in global farm subsidies however only
one percent of that figure is being used
to benefit the environment
globally the majority of agriculture
subsidies for food
go towards animal farms and crops such
as corn and soybean
the majority of which is used as animal
feeds in essence the majority of our tax
money is being used to drive down the
prices of the food that is destroying
our environment the most
as well as causing our leading diseases
and illnesses drastically increasing our
risk from infectious zoonotic disease
and causing suffering to tens of
billions of animals
every single year the animal farming
industries are given so much taxpayers
money
that on average each head of cattle in
europe gets a subsidy from the taxpayer
worth around 2.20
a day which means that the annual income
of an eu dairy cow
exceeds that of half the world's human
population
in the uk according to the government
department defra
around 90 percent of the annual profit
of farmers who graze livestock
comes from agriculture subsidies with
some farmers only making 12 000 pounds a
year
even though they are given 44 000 pounds
in subsidies whilst for comparison only
10 percent of fruit farmers annual
profit
comes from subsidies in essence our tax
money is being used to prop up
industries
that is simply not economically viable
without huge amounts of government
handouts
it's a similar story in the us where
tens of billions of dollars are given to
farmers
every year and on top of the regular
subsidies
in 2018 trump gave farmers a 12 billion
dollar support package
and in 2019 he gave another 16 billion
dollars
mainly because of the trade war with
china however studies
from several economists showed that the
amount being given to farmers through
the bailouts
was worth double the amount they were
actually losing from the trade war
and even though farmers are the biggest
recipients of corporate welfare
at the same time five billion dollars
was being cut from programs
such as food stamps that help provide
food for low-income families
subsidies don't have to be bad but there
is clearly a need for urgent reform
especially when considering that
taxpayers money is being given to
perpetuate systems of farming
that are devastating for the environment
and rely on animal suffering
and they have been used to prop up
systems of farming that are struggling
to survive
even with the tens of thousands of
pounds or dollars
from the taxpayer we may see the price
of meat
dairy and eggs and believe them to be
cheap but the system is built on a false
economy
these products are not environmentally
sustainable or humane
and nor are they financially sustainable
either ultimately as it stands
subsidies have been implemented in an
absolutely devastating way
but it does not need to be this way the
return of forests and costa rica
followed the elimination of cattle
subsidies and the implementation of
payments for improving nature
the vast majority of julio's 30 hectare
farm in northeastern costa rica
belongs to the jungle he earns a stipend
for leaving that forest intact
and this could be a story that is
replicated all over the world
we have the chance to profoundly help
the natural world providing healthier
food
at a cheaper cost as well as helping
struggling farmers
and it begins with changing the way that
we eat
for as long as we keep buying these
products the governments will keep
subsidizing the industries
that produce them but by changing how we
eat
we are demanding a reform in how our tax
money is spent
as well
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