The idea of farm subsidies was to produce cheap food for the consumer. Excellent idea, or so it seemed.
Oh dear, by reducing the final cost to you and me without allowing for the variable costs for the farmer producing the food created a bit of a snag. The farmer was out of pocket. So the good old powers that be stepped in to subsidise the farmer's loss.
This still didn't work out too good for the farmer unless they increased production and so mountains of surplus were produced and wasted.
55 billion a year is spent across Europe subsidising the agricultural industry, that's just over 40% of European Union’s annual budget, or an average of just under €100 a year for each EU citizen.
So the average family of 4 who spend what £100+ a week are then paying another £83.91 a year (current exchange rate) per person through taxes.
Why do we do this?
In 2007 Tate & Lyle Europe you know the firm who do sugar, were awarded €134,069,000, putting them top of the subsidies list as can be seen on http://farmsubsidy.org
Don't they sell enough sugar to keep going without handouts?
If you're reading this you may well of read what I think of supermarkets, well I believe the way they treat their food suppliers and have the monopoly on how food is bought has had a direct result on why producers are having to rely on subsidies.
Abolish this silly system and let all producers compete on a level playing field. Some will crash and burn while others will flourish, but this is no different to the rest of the business world.
Watch the video below and have your eyes opened.
