Question: It seems every year we hear about American grain surpluses and the intentional destruction of good grain. With so many developing nations facing food crises and many people starving, couldn't that surplus be shipped where it is needed?
Submitted from Lynn of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin through PBS Online (10/19/00)
Answer from Harry Browne:
Government Causes Waste
Obviously huge oversupplies of grain should be shipped to starving people rather than left to rot or destroyed.
And, the question is why doesn't that happen now?
Why do we hear that family farmers are unable to keep their farms? At the same time, why are we hearing of the intentional destruction of vast quantities of grain and milk? Why would farmers destroy their produce rather than sell it or give it to World Vision or the Red Cross?
Interestingly, you never hear of the intentional destruction of vast overstocks of computers, cars, refrigerators, or furniture. Why is that?
The U.S. Agricultural Department's food distribution web site says, "Our dual mission is (1) to strengthen the nutrition safety net through commodity distribution... and (2) to strengthen American agriculture." In fact, it is doing neither effectively.
Before the USDA existed, no one ever heard of the intentional destruction of good grain.
It doesn't surprise me that there is massive misallocation of resources in agriculture because that business has been turned over to politicians. What do professional politicians know about the farming business? Why should this business be managed by politicians in Washington D.C.? Do you think politicians are likely to listen to farmers over agri-business that contributes millions to political campaigns?
The USDA's "Food Distribution 2000" program boldly proclaims it is "Transforming Food Distribution for the Next Millennium." Well, here's my USDA plan for the next millennium: Get the federal government out of the business of regulating and meddling with food production. Free that sector of our economy so that it can become as efficient and effective as the computer and automobile industries.
If we do that, Lynn, you won't hear any more about the intentional destruction of good grain than you hear about the intentional destruction of furniture -- that is, you won't hear about it at all. And, food will quietly and efficiently be shipped around the world to where it's needed most.
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