Posted on 08/26/2023 5:37:29 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
"I'm with the government, and I am here to help": WEF, Big Ag and Corporate food processors
“Who controls the food supply controls the people” , Attributed to Henry Kissinger (disputed)
As we head into the weekend of August 26, 2023, I turn back to one of the key themes of this substack- the family farm. We previously published an essay titled “The Harvest of Deception” by Texas Slim, which provides an introductory overview of current trends in American (and western) food agriculture. Here is a quote from that essay which gets to the heart of the matter:
The world's food supply is controlled by just a handful of companies, and the concentration of power in the food industry has increased over time. In the United States, less than 1% of the population is employed in agriculture, and most of the food sold in the country is controlled by a few large corporations.
The food cartel exercises a significant degree of control over domestic agricultural economies, especially in the processing industries. This includes the milling and packing/slaughtering industries, which are controlled by a few large companies. For example, in the case of grains and soybeans, the top four millers controlled 41% of the industry in 1979, and they now control 92%. In addition, four of the six leading grain cartel companies own 64% of America's grain elevator storage capacity, which means that farmers must sell their grain to these companies, and these firms collude to set the price to the farmer at the lowest possible level.
The food cartel's power must be broken, as they control the supply of raw materials, and above all, food. The food cartel apparently seeks to turn back the clock of history, and reduce mankind from the 7 billion population it currently enjoys to the state of a few hundred million semi-literate souls scratching out a bare existence. The full truth about the food cartel must be known, and the extreme globalization of the food chain must be eliminated. Nations have been forced into dependence on food from hundreds and thousands of miles away, and this is not sustainable in the long term.
In conclusion, the food industry's concentration of power has led to a lack of transparency and control over the world's food supply. The top seed companies account for two-thirds of the global proprietary seed market, and the top three seed companies control 65% of the proprietary maize (corn) seed market worldwide, and over half of the proprietary soybean seed market. The food cartel exercises significant control over the domestic agricultural economies of nations, and the extreme globalization of the food chain must be eliminated to ensure food security in the long term.
I often argue that the death warrant for small town America (and the decentralized family farms which supported it) was signed by Earl Butz, Secretary of Agriculture under the Nixon and Ford Administrations.
snip---- Earl Butz photo
In theory , his mission as Secretary of Ag was to assist small farmers. However he wrote them off with a flip remark which has become infamous.
Get big or get out!
Earl Butz, 1909-2008, U. S. Secretary of Agriculture (Republican), Mantra to Small Farmers, early 1970s
To provide some sense of the man, Mr. Butz’ political career abruptly ended when John Dean (yes, that John Dean) reported the following exchange in an article published in the issue of Rolling Stone dated October 7, 1976:
Dean wrote:
Pat [Boone] posed a question: “John and I were just discussing the appeal of the Republican party. It seems to me that the party of Abraham Lincoln could and should attract more black people. Why can’t that be done?” This was a fair question for the secretary, who is also a very capable politician.
“I’ll tell you why you can’t attract coloreds,” the secretary proclaimed as his mischievous smile returned. “Because colored only wants three things. You know what they want?” he asked Pat.
Pat shook his head no; so did I.
“I’ll tell you what coloreds want. blip...................blip That's all!”
Pat gulped twice.
This is the man who almost singlehandedly destroyed the American small farm and the network of rural towns that supported them. Not a big thinker.
Fast forward to today, just a few decades later we have the “harvest of deception” described by Texas Slim, laboratory fermentation produced “meat” involving cultured cell lines (“cultivated meat”), and World Economic Forum (WEF) efforts to discourage meat consumption. Examples of the latter (WEF) include the following essays and position papers, among many others:
At this point in Union government history, what part of it is a “friend”?
Yep. Exactly
There was a time when Texas A&M was in fact a friend of the farmer and rancher.
But that died when that university got so large they forgot where they came from. From a Land Grant university to another bureaucrat monster. (Several years ago they partnered with Syngenta [Agri-pro] running their seed program. Later Syngenta (Swiss Company) sold to the ChiCom Government for 13 Billion Dollars cash, yes, they bought the best 2 breeding programs for wheat + seed)
I’m fully aware of where we are.
Definitely a cleaned up version. What a crass man Butz is/was.
Cleaned up version at post 10.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4177918/posts?page=10#10
The U.S. is a country that mandates the burning of one-third of it's corn crop "for the environment."
I shutter to think about it too. It bottles the mind.
Bkmrk
What is “blip, blip and blip”? I think I know
Well, we are system dependent for so much stuff that it is frightening.
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