[marsh2]

You seem to ignore the fact that food grown in most third world nations is not subject to the same stringent (and expensive) environmental and labor regulations as that which is grown here. Remove all of those and so can compete on a level playing field. (Do you really want to eat beef butchered in some third world slaughter house?) It appears you are touting colonialism of the British kind.

One of my greatest concerns is that we will lose our capacity to be independent. It is a matter of losing our infrastructure and our skills. Farming and ranching is not something you just go to school and learn. It is a lifestyle that you almost have to be born to. I know a professorof range ecology who bought a ranch and hadn't a clue how to irrigate and do all the on-the-ground things entailed in ranching. We once did an inventory of skills required and it was amazing: chemistry, physics, mechanics, veterinary medicine, bookeeping, sales, management, genetics, etc.

A stable and plentiful food supply PERMITS specialization. Only a very small percentage of the population now farms/ranches leaving the rest of us to specialize in IT or whatever. In the days when everyone had to grow their own and had little surplus to sell, there was little room for specialization. It is only when production of surplus is possible that some can be freed for other things. That is what I meant by farming being our foundation Either we produce raw product or someone else does. You still need raw product to "add value" with service or whatever. Becoming dependent isn't all that you crack it up to be. Look at what dependence on foreign fossil fuel has gotten us into.

[Quila]

"Only a very small percentage of the population now farms/ranches leaving the rest of us to specialize in IT or whatever. In the days when everyone had to grow their own and had little surplus to sell, there was little room for specialization. It is only when production of surplus is possible that some can be freed for other things. "

Now this is probably one of the most reasonable things I've read here in a long time.

I don't believe we'll ever move production entirely out of country, and I don't believe allowing free-market farming will make that happen. I would like a balance where I pay for food only what it cost to produce, ship, warehouse and retail it, plus profits.

I don't want to see our farmers fail, but there is a lot of non-profitable dead wood out there that we are supporting. In a free market system rather than our current socialism, I'm sure American ingenuity will win, and there will be profitable farmers still. If anyone can make a profit out of something, it's an American.

However, if we can't seem to make a profit out of something, then import it. There are tariffs and quality regulations to control the imports.