The US govt is giving 38 billion of tax payers money in meat subsidies.
About 50 years ago, beef cost more than $7 a pound in today’s dollars. Today, despite high inflation, beef is down to about $4.80 a pound, and chicken is just around $1.80 a pound. But those low prices hide the true costs of the meat we consume — costs that the meat and poultry industries have quietly offloaded onto not only the animals we consume but us humans, too. Can we do a campaign to eliminate these subsidies.
Replies
Hare Krishna, I'm not in USA but I feel compelled to answer since this subject is very close to me. Yes, you can absolutely build a strategic advocacy campaign to eliminate or reform these subsidies.
Reframe the Narrative: "The True Cost" To gain mainstream support, the campaign must connect the dots between taxpayer wallets and systemic harms. Look up a paper titled "Saving the Planet
The Market for Sustainable Meat Alternatives" by UC Berkely Sutardja Center to emphasize the economic distortion. Focus on the fact that these subsidies force all taxpayers - including vegetarians, vegans, and health-conscious consumers - to actively fund the cheap production of resource-intensive foods. Finally, Explicitly tie the subsidies to the billions of dollars spent annually treating chronic illnesses (like heart disease) and fighting climate issues driven by industrial agriculture.
Create a unified front that cannot be easily dismissed as single-issue activism. That means -
Fiscal Conservatives: Partner with groups focused on cutting government waste and ending "corporate welfare."
Public Health Advocates: Align with organizations pointing out the contradiction where the federal government spends under 1% of agricultural subsidies on fresh fruits and vegetables, despite dietary guidelines urging people to eat more produce.
Environmental & Welfare NGOs: Bring in established groups - such as The Humane League, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), and World Animal Protection - who I think are already targeting industrial factory farming.
The campaign should lobby aggressively during the US Farm Bill drafting phases. Politically, purely "eliminating" agricultural aid maybe a tough sell. A more viable strategy is advocating for "Subsidy Shifting" - redirecting those billions toward diversified specialty crops (fruits, vegetables, nuts), conservation programs, or incentivizing farmers to transition toward sustainable plant-based proteins or farming as advocated by Srila Prabhupada.
To build momentum from the ground up, imagine if campaign deploys digital interactive "Taxpayer Receipt" calculator where users enter their income to see exactly how many of their personal tax dollars go directly to corporate factory farms. This could in turn lead to District-Level lobbying by Mobilizing constituents to call their representatives on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, pressuring them to support structural reforms.
I also think the connection between public policy and food prices is worth discussing. Looking at latest chicken prices alongside production costs and government support could give a clearer picture of what consumers are actually paying.
Hare Krsna pamho,
The artihmatic is external issue but the major problem is supply , i feel sad,there is demand thats why there is supply. and when the supply is in excess the prices go down. No doubt tamoguna and in turn demoniac propensity is rampant. We need to distribute more prabhupad books and bring people under mode of goodness, we also need to pray Krsna Balaram to protect cows.