This, also US agricultural exports play a major role in US imperialism. Michael Hudson’s talks on the subject are extremely enlightening- this one, on the broader “super imperialism” (recently bought his book on the subject, yet to delve in) and this one on the subject of the World Bank and US agricultural imperialism in particular.
The TL,DR is that the US heavily discourages agricultural self-sufficiency across the global south, and through this weaponizes/orchestrates famines across the world as one weapon of its empire.
That’s part of it, for sure (it comes with genociding off the majority of the indigenous population and developing as a settler-state instead of natural demographic growth). The US’ land could easily sustain a population the size of China’s or India’s.
Alongside that, the mechanisms of this agricultural imperialism are such that it’s not some “complete support of other countries’ agriculture”- rather, it’s implementing the same kinds of agricultural dependencies that were and remain endemic to, say, the Caribbean, where local agriculture would be focused on cash crop plantations which could not sustain domestic needs.
There’s also a space for other countries’ agriculture (of staple crops, etc) within this model- but it is under western ownership. The process generally goes as such- agricultural subsidies and state-led or locally owned agriculture is disincentivized or worse, and meanwhile the markets are forced open- thus, heavily subsidized western agriculture flows in and destroys local farmers. Then afterwards the US swoops in for the fire sale…
Yes there has been a consolidation over the decades into few large, corporate operations. You can still buy fresh produce and other farm goods locally from the same people who grew them in “farmer’s markets” in towns and cities, but these are only in limited times of year and locations. For most Americans the food they buy and eat will have come to their supermarket from some massive factory-like supply chain, average distance of over 1,000 miles away, or something like that (I’ve not read up on this topic in many years).
The documentary Food, Inc. narrates a surprising and dark picture of the state of farming in the U.S., and it was filmed 17 years ago! So food production has progressed further into profits-at-all-cost corporate hands since then. Similar things happened with smaller, often local, goods stores disappearing during 1980s-1990s due to emergence of large shopping malls and multi-department corporate chains like Walmart and Target (you may see this referred to as the Main Street “ghost town”).
Amazing how it was predicted by Lenin at the end of XIX century. He said that USA have farthest going bourgeois agriculture system that he would want to see enacted in Russia for the explicit purpose of getting rid of every dreg of feudalism, but as the time goes, it will be consolidated under less and less great bourgeoise landowners.
@yogthos they wiped out tech industry, it’s fair to wipe out US farmers.
It’s capitalism baby!
This, also US agricultural exports play a major role in US imperialism. Michael Hudson’s talks on the subject are extremely enlightening- this one, on the broader “super imperialism” (recently bought his book on the subject, yet to delve in) and this one on the subject of the World Bank and US agricultural imperialism in particular.
The TL,DR is that the US heavily discourages agricultural self-sufficiency across the global south, and through this weaponizes/orchestrates famines across the world as one weapon of its empire.
Interesting, does that mean USA has a powerful enough farming industry / agriculture to support other countries?
That’s part of it, for sure (it comes with genociding off the majority of the indigenous population and developing as a settler-state instead of natural demographic growth). The US’ land could easily sustain a population the size of China’s or India’s.
Alongside that, the mechanisms of this agricultural imperialism are such that it’s not some “complete support of other countries’ agriculture”- rather, it’s implementing the same kinds of agricultural dependencies that were and remain endemic to, say, the Caribbean, where local agriculture would be focused on cash crop plantations which could not sustain domestic needs.
There’s also a space for other countries’ agriculture (of staple crops, etc) within this model- but it is under western ownership. The process generally goes as such- agricultural subsidies and state-led or locally owned agriculture is disincentivized or worse, and meanwhile the markets are forced open- thus, heavily subsidized western agriculture flows in and destroys local farmers. Then afterwards the US swoops in for the fire sale…
Thanks
Are there even many individual farmers in USA? From what i read it’s more of a agricorpos running everything.
Yes there has been a consolidation over the decades into few large, corporate operations. You can still buy fresh produce and other farm goods locally from the same people who grew them in “farmer’s markets” in towns and cities, but these are only in limited times of year and locations. For most Americans the food they buy and eat will have come to their supermarket from some massive factory-like supply chain, average distance of over 1,000 miles away, or something like that (I’ve not read up on this topic in many years).
The documentary Food, Inc. narrates a surprising and dark picture of the state of farming in the U.S., and it was filmed 17 years ago! So food production has progressed further into profits-at-all-cost corporate hands since then. Similar things happened with smaller, often local, goods stores disappearing during 1980s-1990s due to emergence of large shopping malls and multi-department corporate chains like Walmart and Target (you may see this referred to as the Main Street “ghost town”).
Amazing how it was predicted by Lenin at the end of XIX century. He said that USA have farthest going bourgeois agriculture system that he would want to see enacted in Russia for the explicit purpose of getting rid of every dreg of feudalism, but as the time goes, it will be consolidated under less and less great bourgeoise landowners.