All farm subsidies should be eliminated

[Jacobtm]

America eats too much. Farm subsidies keep food cheap, encouraging consumption. All farm subsidies should be ended, unequivocally. The money should be redirected to the food stamps program for the poorest Americans.

[Jacobtm]

If you believe in subsidies for small farms, do you believe in subsidies for every small business so that it can compete against larger ones?

I see no more reason for giving free money to small farms than for giving it to small bakeries, small ice-cream shops, small restaurants etc.

[Jacobtm]

Why is that a good thing?  Agricultural jobs are hard, dangerous and don't pay very well.  The family farm is dying and I've yet to hear somebody come up with some good examples as to why that's a bad thing.

Patenting of common crop varieties in order to charge small farmers the world over a premium for using the same seeds they've always used.

Genetically modifying crops to NOT produce fertile seeds, so that small farmers have to buy seeds from AGROGIANTX every year.

Industrial use of fertilizers destroying up local ecosystems

Homogenization of crop varieties taking away the diversity of food that many people don't even realize they'd enjoy because they've never seen the variety out there.

Bland flavorless food.

I bet Americans would eat alot more Tomatoes if they didn't all taste like crap. How hard is it to find a GOOD tomato? Or GOOD batch of strawberries? They just pump those guys with fertilizer until they're big and red and ship them out, but it's definitely not the same as local produce that's grown naturally, has a natural flavor and isn't shipped halfway across the country.