We'll build streetcars to the farms, so farmers can benefit as well!

And don't forget that Earl will be speaking in support of Occupy Portland tomorrow in Pioneer Square.

When you see a turdbucket downtown, remember that Earl endorses it!

Being a rancher who raises cattle and sheep, I am in agreement with him on this. Farm subsidies go mainly to agribusiness type farmers and I think they should be phased out. They might have a benefit in rough crop years but mostly they are there because of the importance of the corn-belt to early primaries and in the end they push the little guys out. People who raise beef get no subsidy and the only one for wool is small (we don't apply for it). In tough economic times, there are more important things to subsidize (not saying that's necessarily mass transit) and that's my opinion.

Food subsidies set up an artificial system of food production, not based consumer demand. When we buy food from non-subsidized crops & ranches the prices we pay reflect the real price of producing the food plus a profit with which the farmer can make a living. I, for one, don't have a problem paying the price. Subsidies come with strings attached that sway public consumption trends. This may offer lower prices, however, food quality tends to suffer & it fosters dependence on govt to keep it propped up. And do I need to mention cronyism?

If you don't eat Gummint Cheeze, then you should oppose farm subsidies.

And do I need to mention cronyism?

Earl is very down on cronyism, except of course when it's the Goldschmidt people.

Here's the list in Multnomah County.

Great link, John.

And while I'm at it, here's the big money, at least in Oregon.

Letting the Department of Agriculture recommend the "healthy" portions of food we eat (nutrition fact labels are not written by nutritionists or doctors) is a big subsidy that needs to end.

It would be nice to find a coke without HFCS in it as well.

a coke without HFCS

I think the technical term for that is "water".

The "Mexican" Cokes (probably made in New Jersey) have cane sugar, don't they?

Those farm subsidies get in the way of more important things.

Like Orenco Village.

You know, back in 1995 that was all farmland. Today it's "transit oriented development"...or, the reason why every road in the area had to be widened to five lanes and the Sunset Highway is being given another lane as well, while the land surrounding the MAX station is still undeveloped.

And that land now known as Cascade Station, that the Port used to lease out to farmers.

And Quatama.

And Villebois.

Actually coke from anywhere in the world except the US use cane sugar.

HFCS only exists because of corn subsidies and is thought to be a big reason why we have so many instances of type 2 diabetes. You have to try hard to find products that don't contain it.

I've seen some "Mexican" coke that had HFCS in it, so you better read the label to make sure.

I agree the farm subsidies need to end, as well as the government recommending diets that go against current research/science.

Costco on the West side has the Coke with cane sugar. Also, many of the Thriftways out this side of the river have alternative soft drinks sweetened with cane sugar.

Found some Cheerwine at Thriftway yesterday.

Surprised to see so many "small" subsidies in Washington County; seems like the paperwork necessary would be more work for the benefit. Unless the checks are on auto-pilot.

Big Agriculture was set up way, way back by the Rockefeller empire. They did this to be able to control the price and distribution of food. They have mainly succeeded. Farm subsidies are part of this plan. It has essentially killed off small farmers and forced everyone into urban areas.

And the amount of oil that is used in big farms is huge (fertilizer and fuel), so a nice profit for an oil baron too.

http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2011/06/city-slickers-continue-to-rake-in-farm-payments/

Do these city slickers care about food prices?

Food is a huge subject and I am concerned will becoming more so, as the focus from Goldman Sachs and others are into commodities.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/27/how_goldman_sachs_created_the_food_crisis

Demand and supply certainly matter. But there's another reason why food across the world has become so expensive: Wall Street greed.

It took the brilliant minds of Goldman Sachs to realize the simple truth that nothing is more valuable than our daily bread. And where there's value, there's money to be made. In 1991, Goldman bankers, led by their prescient president Gary Cohn, came up with a new kind of investment product, a derivative that tracked 24 raw materials, from precious metals and energy to coffee, cocoa, cattle, corn, hogs, soy, and wheat. They weighted the investment value of each element, blended and commingled the parts into sums, then reduced what had been a complicated collection of real things into a mathematical formula that could be expressed as a single manifestation, to be known henceforth as the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI).

More to article, good read, is Earl looking into this matter?

Jack,

I'd like to see farm subsidies end as well as street car subsidies. I think that Earl is an idiot that just happened to end up on the correct end of this one issue. Sort of like the blind pig that found an acorn.

Is bow tie suggesting ending ethanol subsidies, wind and solar too??

I assume this would include an end to ethanol subsidies as well, since there are many studies that now show it does more harm than good to the environment and human life?

Good riddance to corporate welfare in the form of farm subsidies. Farming is risky, and there should be help after disasters, but the trough is way too deep and wide right now. My cousin has a medium-sized apple operation, and all he does when he gets some money or interest-free loan from USDA is buy more vintage Indian motorcycles. He's got like 23 of them in one of his storage buildings.