Department of Agriculture?

[Cynanthrope]

Considering that Paul advocated terminating the Department of Agriculture, how would he ensure that our food supply is secured and checked?

[Icymudpuppy]

Buy local. Know your producers and their farms.

[Bruno]

Considering that Paul advocated terminating the Department of Agriculture, how would he ensure that our food supply is secured and checked?

Welcome to the Ron Paul forums. :)

You begin with the belief the our food supply is secure and checked now. It is not.

[Johnnybags]

Considering that Paul advocated terminating the Department of Agriculture, how would he ensure that our food supply is secured and checked?

LOL, these guys are the laziest go with the flow people we have. They are more concerned with keeping big ag happy than us, rest assure.

[LiberT]

Considering that Paul advocated terminating the Department of Agriculture, how would he ensure that our food supply is secured and checked?

The question is why is it the responsibility of FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to ensure that our food supply is secured and checked? State governments all have state department's of agriculture, all of whom can and do inspect food processing plants regularly.

The issue comes down to the Department of Agriculture does so much more than simply ensuring that our food supply is secured and checked (I work in the meat business).

Just one aspect that I feel is a complete wast of taxpayer dollars is the branch called USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) (http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/)


The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service administers programs that facilitate the efficient, fair marketing of U.S. agricultural products, including food, fiber, and specialty crops. AMS has about 5,500 employees who are located throughout the United States.

They even have their own news agency:


For more than 90 years, AMS has provided current, unbiased price and sales information to assist in the orderly marketing and distribution of farm commodities. Reports include information on prices, volume, quality, condition, and other market data on farm products in specific markets and marketing areas. Reports cover both domestic and international markets. The data is disseminated within hours of collection via the Internet and made available through electronic means, in printed reports, by telephone recordings and through the news media.

Are these functions REALLY required? Are these not functions that can be performed by private means, thereby saving taxpayer dollars?

Here is a breakdown:


Commodity Descriptions

COTTON -- Supports the orderly and efficient marketing of U.S. cotton, domestically and internationally, by providing unbiased classification, standardization, market news and oversight of the research and promotion program.

DAIRY-- Facilitates the strategic marketing of milk and dairy products while ensuring fair trading practices and promoting a competitive and efficient marketplace

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE –Facilitates the strategic marketing of fruit, vegetable, nuts and specialty items in domestic and international markets, while ensuring fair trading practices, and promoting a competitive and efficient marketplace that benefits producers, traders, and consumers.

LIVESTOCK AND SEED—Provides timely, high-quality, unbiased service that facilitates the orderly marketing and distribution of livestock products, while simultaneously fostering goodwill in the global marketplace. These practices are maintained through a continued commitment to improve operating procedures to meet customer needs, and to incorporate new research findings and technological advancements.

POULTRY AND EGGS–Facilitates the strategic marketing of poultry, shell eggs, and egg products in domestic and international markets through standardization, grading and certification services, market news, shell egg research and promotion, and purchasing poultry and egg products for Federal feeding programs.

TOBACCO-- Provides official tobacco grade standards, designates tobacco auction markets where tobacco growers receive mandatory inspection of each lot of tobacco to determine its grade and type, distribute daily price reports showing the current average price for each grade.

Now, you may say that this marketing is needed... we are simply promoting American products, and I would tend to agree. However, stop and think about it for a min. Think about the companies that are involved in each of these industries, these companies are some of the largest in the world and include such names as TYSON, Monsanto, ConAgra, Cargill/Excel, Philip Morris, Sara Lee just to name a FEW. Shouldn't these companies be responsible for performing these duties themselves without taxpayer subsidies?

[Matt Collins]

Let it be done on the State level or...


as Dr. Mary Ruwart says:
http://www.theadvocates.org/ruwart/categories_list.php

"Restitution would be the norm in a libertarian society, even if compensation had to be made over time. Bankruptcy, for individuals or businesses, would not relieve the guilty of their duty to restore their victims. In a libertarian society, the state would be unable to grant a business limited liability, which is essentially what a corporate charter entails."

"Studies show that voluntary certification instead of mandatory inspections increases the delivery of high quality, inexpensive service to the customer. Certification is win-win for both service providers and consumers."


In other words, trade associations and independent body of standards.

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

Considering that Paul advocated terminating the Department of Agriculture, how would he ensure that our food supply is secured and checked?

All I can say is... 1) buckle up because your in for a ride and 2) if you are willing to approach this forum with an open mind and objectively consider the many viewpoints presented it will be a journey.

Welcome to the forum where empirical evidence trumps facts, facts trump conclusions, and frequent doses of intellectual reasoning are required to keep ones sanity.

[heavenlyboy34]

Let it be done on the State level or...


as Dr. Mary Ruwart says:
http://www.theadvocates.org/ruwart/categories_list.php

"Restitution would be the norm in a libertarian society, even if compensation had to be made over time. Bankruptcy, for individuals or businesses, would not relieve the guilty of their duty to restore their victims. In a libertarian society, the state would be unable to grant a business limited liability, which is essentially what a corporate charter entails."

"Studies show that voluntary certification instead of mandatory inspections increases the delivery of high quality, inexpensive service to the customer. Certification is win-win for both service providers and consumers."


In other words, trade associations and independent body of standards.




Well said! :cool:

[torchbearer]

I love Ruwart.

[lx43]

Official Ruling. As your devinely appointed King, I hereby order my minsiter of Agriculture to halt all funding for the Ministry of Agriculture within my nation. The 2010 budget for DOA is $133 Billion of which 80% is for mandatory spending. If you go to http://www.obpa.usda.gov/budsum/FY10budsum.pdf you can clearly see 95% of my Agriculture ministry budget goes for unneccessary and unconstutitional welfare prgrams. Only a small fraction goes to food inspection.

I hereby order this department shut down and its assets liquidated.

PS no private business is going to get their customers sick on purpose or keep it unsanitary. They will go out of business in no time if they do, I say let the greatest regulatory body in the world choose--the customer.

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

Only because of the department of agriculture can you buy food that you have no idea where it came from or if it is even safe.

[james1906]

The United States doesn't have a Dept of Tourism that inspects hotels, yet I can go online and get a wealth of information on the quality of various hotels.

Also, the FDA hurts us, case in point:

YouTube - DCA Cancer Cure? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZNMDDdZybk)

[BenIsForRon]

We don't need a federal department of agriculture. States can do all the necessary work. Of course, some on these forums would suggest that there is no role for government at any level in agriculture, but I disagree.

Things don't always work out for the small farmer. Droughts, floods, hurricanes, diseases, etc. can wipe out their livelihood. Government could step in here and provide them with enough money to sustain themselves until the next growing season.

Many RPFer's would say, at this point, "well, then the farmer should buy insurance then!". Well, farmers can't always afford insurance, so government bailouts would be a way to spread the cost across all of society.

Some other RPFer's would say "But you can't force me to pay for a farmer's insurance!" To that I say, everybody has to eat. As long as the farmer is responsible, and provides a good service to the community, then he should have something to fall back on no matter what happens to him.

Of course, in theory, this same system could be done under a voluntary tax system. But to that I say, so can state national guards, but we chose to do mandatory taxes for obvious reasons.

So before everybody jumps on me, I'm saying this is one of the very few, small roles I would endorse for a state government.

EDIT: Shit, I just realized this is RP on the issues forum. My opinion does not reflect Ron Paul's opinion... though I would like to know what he would say to my argument!

[Danke]

bump