Why grow food?

[ashling]

[trublu992]

1. Don't Understand

why globalization is some how a great framework for producing food. Every country should be producing and selling food for their own country. People living in extreme poverty growing bananas for below real market share any market share for the USA when they themselves are starving is criminal. Meanwhile we have domestic farmers who can't make a living unless they're selling a crop we don't need or are a huge corporate farm getting billions in subsidies. What does the consumer get? Science fiction food that taste like anything except what its suppose to be.

[leftstreet]

2. My frozen broccoli says it comes from Honduras

Nothing against Honduran farmers, I'm sure they want to make a living, but wouldn't it be cheaper to grow it/ship it somewhere closer to me? How much are taxpayers subsidizing BigAgra anyway?

[gateley]

3. "Should" is not part of the profit equation.

[tama]

4. It's a framework

for neocolonialist exploitation.

[freshwest]

6. ^^^ THIS ^^^

[PATRICK]

7. Also

destroying subsistence farmlands by overusing large tracts for artificially low priced "Cash" crops" is only a benefit in an abstract money game. In real value terms it is extremely destructive of the most needed basics. What the money delivers does not balance this out, is usually not even relevant though it is supposed to provide things above subsistence farming to the population it has displaced from that basic lifestyle. The tradeoff is absurd, inherently so. Trade itself becomes a bloated joke.

[prete_nero]

5. control

I wonder how much of the problem is our self control to eat 'within seasons'...or however you would say it. Right now for example early foods like strawberries are not in season as much, but apples are more than plentiful.
Its our desire to have what sounds good over what is traditionally available that encourages this 'global farming'.
Not saying its particularly our fault, when you see that box of oranges that look amazing albeit out of season why not buy if you can afford it?

I wonder about that but I wonder if more of the reason is the corporate farming models that can pull this kind of stuff off.

Small farms, farmer markets etc. If you can do it DO IT. It's better for us and the food tastes WAY BETTER!!!

(oh and grow a garden if you can, I'm going to next summer. Excited for those tomatoes mmm)