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U.S. agriculture polices are not working. Many believe that there needs to
be crucial, fundamental changes in agriculture policy, especially regarding
small family farms and the environment.
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Financially unsustainable
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Farm subsidies continue to unduly favor the nation's
largest farms.
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From 1988 to 1993, even the most economically profitable
farms averaged only a 3-5% return on stockholder equity;
food manufacturers, on the other hand, averaged 16.5%.
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Environmentally unsustainable
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Conventional agriculture erodes and degrades soil; it
requires large-scale use of chemical pesticides and
fertilizers that pollute groundwater and are unhealthy for
consumers and farmers.
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The explosion of factory hog farms, cattle feedlots, and
poultry operations has increased livestock concentrations,
confinement housing, and separation of animals from their
natural environments.
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Socially unsustainable
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Conventional agriculture has led to decaying communities
in rural America that continue to lose population,
business, and even their reason to exist, reducing farmers
to corporate laborers.
The Natural Law Party supports legislation that will ensure social,
economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture and has
identified solutions to the problems faced by U.S. agriculture:
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The U.S. should change its policy focus from "cheap (and unsafe)
food for the consumer" to "quality food for the consumer on a
sustainable basis."
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Farm policies should be redirected to expand opportunities for new
and existing farmers to prosper using sustainable systems that
will enhance the health of the farmers and the population as a
whole.
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Field-tested techniques supported by scientific research, such as
integrated pest management, integrated crop management, and
organic farming, exist for farming profitably on a low-input,
sustainable basis
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Farm communities should seek new ways to keep "value-added"
processes and profits as close as possible to the farm.
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Family-sized farms should be protected and strengthened through
more programs that support value-added incentives, assistance for
minority and beginning farmers, and other initiatives to empower
farmers and rural communities to work towards revitalizing rural
life.
