FARMERS have rejected a call by the Catholic Church in Ireland to eliminate “all trade distorting farm subsidies” dismissing the suggestion as naïve and preposterous.
The Irish Bishops Conference Commission for Justice and Social Affairs said that while accepting the validity of direct income supports for farmers that are not related to current production levels or prices, it must be recognised that subsidies in general, and in particular export credits, encourage over-production and dumping. It stated that both of these have the effect of depressing the price of primary products and impoverishing subsistence farmers in the least developed countries.
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Read the complete article Farmers dismiss Church call to eliminate subsidies from Irish Examiner.com.
The Church is being naive...
The farmers of Europe are cruel, heartless people who oppress Third World farmers by depressing crop prices...
I would personally side with the Church on this matter. While in Europe, subsidies tend to protect farmers who rule over their little plots of land that are inefficient and should have been consolidated years ago, in the US they tend to protect multi-nationals like ADM while the little family farmers get pushed out. If subsidies were to go, both would probably be evened out by market forces.
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