Reword assignment chapter 8

Chapter 8 Discussion Question

Question- Consider a potential piece of food system legislation, such as increasing access to healthy foods or reducing agriculture's impact on natural resources. What constituencies would support your initiative? What messages or strategies would help draw support from atypical allies?

Answer-Growing healthier food, and marketing it through local and regional food systems, are big steps in the right direction. But they will only provide a real solution to our food system problems if everyone has access to them. Research has shown that diet-related health problems hit low-income communities hardest. People living in these communities often find it more difficult to buy healthy food than residents of more affluent neighborhoods; they may have few nearby food sources besides convenience stores and fast-food restaurants. Federal and State agencies are working together to bring the voices of these underserved communities to the forefront. Together we are advocating for common-sense policies to ensure access to affordable, healthy food for people at every income level.

Question-The USDA administers antihunger programs including SNAP, WIC, and the National School Lunch Program. These were created at different points in time and address different target populations. Consider the challenges and benefits of having multiple antihunger programs. What policy reforms could make these programs more efficient?

Answer-Antihunger programs are used to assist low income households with getting food for their families. Each program targets a specific population, and options between food items may differ between programs. These programs are beneficial, but they are also expensive to regulate and maintain. I believe if the federal government to combine all these programs into one streamlined, seamless entitlement program available to all families at 185 percent of the poverty line or below. Also finding ways to reduce overhead cost would help in reducing the overall cost of regulating and maintaining anti-hunger programs.

Question-Farm programs have changed significantly since the New Deal, most notably when most commodity programs shifted from policies maintaining prices at a level that supported farmers, to policies that subsidized farmers when prices were too low. How do these changes in policy affect farm size and the types of crops grown? What would happen if all government intervention in commodities was eliminated?

Answer-Even before the New Deal, the federal government supported farmers directly. President Hoover's administration tried to support farmers by providing them better credit and then by buying farm produce to stabilize the prices. But that just caused farmers to grow more, which in turn lowered prices even more. The belief was that low prices were caused by high production. The supply of crops and livestock was much higher than the demand for those products, and so the prices dropped. If government intervention in commodities were eliminated, then farms particular smaller ones will have difficulty supporting themselves financially in the event crop yield or crops are low.