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Agriculture
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- Phase out farm subsidies, government loans, price supports -- such as to dairy farmers -- and other programs which protect farmers from having to compete in the marketplace and be subject to the law of supply and demand.
- Let the Department of Agriculture be involved in helping farmers through research programs, such as into finding alternatives to pesticides, through soil conservation, organic farming, and other ways that do not involve subsidies to select farmers.
Small Farms vs. Corporate Mega-Farms
- If it is determined that there is a need to favor small farms in order to prevent concentration of farmland into the hands of a few wealthy owners, do it without any kind of subsidies or other interference in the agricultural market.
- As one possible approach, at the state level, consider a progressive system of property taxes on farm properties which imposes ever higher tax rates on larger holdings or holdings of greater total value, thus creating a disincentive to the concentration of farmlands into larger and larger holdings.
Reduce or eliminate remaining tariffs and other trade barriers on foreign farm products, especially against poor countries which want to sell their products to U.S. consumers.
- At the same time do strict inspections of imported farm products to ensure they meet all the same standards for safety and quality that is required of domestic farm products, and thus require them to undergo all the same or equivalent inspections.
Enforce stricter Organic Standards
- Take steps to reverse the trend in recent years toward undermining the integrity of organic farming in this country, and thus ensure that the U.S. will stay competitive and continue as the world market leader in this fast-growing sector.
- Re-establish and enforce stricter standards for defining the term "organic" so this legal classification is protected from being rendered meaningless.
- Thus, ensure that organic farming can perform its long-term cost-effective role in producing a healthier food supply to consumers, by reducing dependency on pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics, which are shown by a growing body of information to cause health problems not only to the consumer directly, but, in the case of pregnant women, even to their unborn children.