Reminds me of something I read in the early 1960s about Cuba in which their new commie masters were urging the people to grow flowers and ornamentals and not food crops. This was to keep the people dependent on the government for food.
It also reminds me of the 1930s when the democrats under FDR bought up millions of head of cattle and hogs, shot and buried them, destroyed row crops, all to get the price up. This was a time when money was scarce and many people could not afford to buy food.