Saving the Family Farm

Victor Davis Hanson, in his book Fields Without Dreams, suggests that food distributors, food processors, and food brokers should not be able to own farmland. The government prohibits monopolies in other markets, so why not food?

“ Nothing in the last century has been more lethal to the American farmer than the accepted practice of processing and selling food. No other industry in America—not financial services, not used-car sales, not investment banking—has had such a sustained record of price gouging and outright theft, without regulation, without accountability or honesty to the farmers who make it all possible.” (p. 279)

The above proposal is part of Hanson’s three-step “utopian scheme” to save the family farm in America. The other steps are--

* Eliminate all government regulation and “support” of agriculture other than statutes governing food quality and safety. A benign government agricultural entity is impossible, because corporate agriculturists give to politicians and enjoy federal protection in return.

* Pass legislation to discourage possession of vast acreage and absentee ownership of farms. Rewrite federal reclamation laws so that such owners are not eligible for federally subsidized water. Make it so property and irrigation taxes are indexed based on the size of the farm and the presence of residents.

What do you think?

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