The Farming Abundance project at The Mercatus Center highlights innovative approaches to farming and food policy. Stagnation from regulatory burdens and environmental harm are very present threats to the American farmer’s way of life. Lawmakers and policy influencers need fresh ideas for modern farm policy that protects both the earth and the free market, as much as consumers need fresh produce.
Imagine a world where we aren’t concerned about micro-plastic and pesticide contamination in our food and water supply, farm skyscrapers are 40 stories tall with different vegetables on every floor, small high-tech farms are abundant and owned by people of all classes, and urban families keep chickens to teach children about lifecycles and produce eggs.
This vision is extremely achievable. All of the technology to build such a society is within grasp- if only American farmers were allowed to experiment and conduct business without government manipulation freezing us in time. We are almost a century into Depression era farm policy and it’s failing our agricultural system. For decades, economists of all political backgrounds have been warning about the harmful effects of farm subsidies and bad incentive programs. Thousands of white papers, academic articles and focus groups later, and there has only been marginal improvements in US agricultural policy.
We need to question the assumptions that got us to this place and identify a new vision for US farm policy. The Farming Abundance project at The Mercatus Center will highlight innovative approaches to farming, food regulations, and USDA incentive programs in order to encourage healthy economic growth. Lawmakers and policy influencers need fresh ideas, as much as we need fresh produce.