We Have a Food-Security Problem… 

“Who’s going to grow our food? You really want to buy it all from overseas?”

—Chip Kent, Specialty-Crop Farmer at Locust Grove Fruit Farm, to CNBC

We have a food-security problem in our country: We’re growing less and less of our own food. Instead, the United States relies on other countries for important fruits and vegetables. In five of the past seven years, the United States imported more food than it exported. The result is an agricultural trade deficit, and projections for 2025 are worse than ever.

The problem? Our nation’s agricultural focus has shifted to “commodity” crops, like soybeans and corn. These plants are mostly used for animal feed and to produce ethanol and cheap sugars, starches, and oils. That the USDA classifies fruits, vegetables, and legumes as “specialty crops” speaks volumes to how these crops are prioritized.

Farm Action, a nonprofit organization that focuses on building a fair, sustainable, and healthy food system, was recently featured on CNBC to discuss this problem at length. The segment, “Why the U.S. Isn’t Growing Enough Food,” covers how policy can shape what farmers grow and what we must do to balance our agricultural trade deficit. 

“Our farmers know how to grow and raise enough food to feed us, but these backwards government policies are standing in the way.”

—Angela Huffman, Farm Action President and Co-founder, to CNBC

How did we get here?

Though supporting commodity crops is important, it’s also important to remember that these crops don’t feed people. While the USDA is taking steps to better support specialty-crop farmers, much more support is needed. Currently, the largest share of farm subsidies goes toward farmed animals and their feed. Only 4% goes to fruit and vegetable farmers.  

“We are wrongly focused on growing and exporting these low-value crops that are not feeding us, and then we’re counting on other countries to supply us with the high-value, healthy food crops that we rely on.” 

—Angela Huffman, Farm Action President and Co-founder, to CNBC

Because commodity crops have so much support, many farmers have little choice but to grow them. Over the past century, small, independent farms have suffered, forced to compete with corporations capable of growing on a massive scale. Mega corporations know this and are all too happy to swoop in with commodity crops when farmers can no longer stay afloat. This system ultimately benefits meatpacking corporations by providing them with cheap industrial animal feed, boosting their bottom lines. 

What can we do?

We need to start growing our own fruits, vegetables, and legumes again. This will not only improve our economy but increase our national food security. In order to get there, we must stop importing specialty crops from overseas and incentivize farmers to grow them. According to a Farm Action report, shifting less than 0.5% of our nation’s farmland to fruits and vegetables could balance our trade deficit. That shift, however, will require policies that support it and subsidies to be more evenly distributed. 

“Subsidies are a major driver of Americans’ diets. The foods that the government subsidizes, those are the foods that are going to be more readily available and more affordable to our citizens.”

—Angela Huffman, Farm Action President and Co-founder, to CNBC

Advocacy is a big part of The Transfarmation Project®. We are honored to work alongside other programs, as well as individuals, policymakers, and companies, to build collective power sufficient to realize a just and sustainable food system. Just this year, our team was part of the coalition that put forth the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act in the House and Senate. And our work continues with the Farm Bill and beyond. 

In order to realize a food system that prioritizes farmers, consumers, animals, and our planet, we need to work together.