Farming Outsourced

Luke Einsweiler

Prof. Stormy Stipe

Research Paper

December 17, 2014

        U.S. farmers have been said to be the backbone of America ever since pilgrims came to America. However, our backbone may be moving overseas because now more than ever we are outsourcing our farm products. Large farm operations and food producers in the U.S. are now turning to outsourcing their products in order to increase profits. This tactic however is not good for our society. Having food produced overseas makes it hard to trace food-borne illnesses and contaminations within the food, and it is hurting the U.S. economy. The U.S. must stop this and produce its own food in this country.

        Large farm operations in the U.S do have valid reasons for wanting to outsource their jobs and products to foreign countries because it makes more sense financially. The main goal of a business is to make money. In order to make the most money, businesses want to cut costs and have a lot of revenue. These farm businesses are moving their production overseas because it has cheaper labor and cheaper cost of input materials. They are able to produce more food for a cheaper price and then sell it in the U.S. and make a huge profit. Outsourcing foodstuffs has been happening for a long time but not on such a large scale. NAFTA, or North American Free Trade Agreement, was supposed to help domestic farmers because they would be able to trade excess products freely. However, NAFTA proved to serve the opposite and made it easier for other countries to export their products to the U.S. Large farm operations saw this as an opportunity and began outsourcing their products and labor and then bringing to products back into the U.S. and making a bunch of money.

        Although trade and outsourcing seem to play a good role in American economics, it is actually hurting the farming industry. The U.S. continues to import large amounts of products that can be produced in the U.S. It is necessary to trade with other countries even if you are able to produce it domestically, but the U.S. should not be importing more than we need if we are able to produce it. By importing large numbers of food products we are hurting the market for domestic suppliers. If corn can be imported for $2.50 per bushel and the U.S. market price for corn is $4.00 per bushel, consumers of corn will generally choose the cheaper option because they are better off that way. Imports are driving down prices of domestic markets which is hurting the farmers who are still producing in the U.S. Not only are all of these imports hurting the markets, but they are also hurting the farmers. More and more farmers are being forced to shut down and go out of business because they can longer compete with the farm businesses that are outsourcing and importing cheap products.

        America has prided itself on being a self-sufficient nation but with all the imports we are becoming more and more dependent on foreign countries. There are certain products such as cocoa, coffee beans, rice, and sugar, that can’t be produced efficiently in the U.S. that must be imported. However, products such as corn, soybeans, and fruits and vegetables that can be produced efficiently in the U.S. should not be imported. For example, Jason Mark writes about and asparagus grower in Washington. He was forced to shut down because of imports. Taking an asparagus field out of production is hard because it takes several years for a new field of asparagus to mature (Mark). If the U.S. starts to rely too heavily on foreign imports and stops producing domestically, what happens if our imports become scarce or there is a food shortage in the foreign country from which we import? We will have become so dependent on other countries that will no longer be self-sufficient. If we continue to produce a wide variety of products on the U.S. we will become the go to country if there is ever a shortage around the world. It is important to be able to take care of the citizens in your country so the U.S. must continue to be self-sufficient.

        Foreign imports are not only negatively affecting the U.S. markets but are also negatively affecting the general welfare. Food regulations in the U.S. are stricter than those in foreign countries. Consumers in the U.S. know where there food was produced and that it met certain USDA regulations and is safe to eat. Production in foreign countries has less strict regulations and may not be as safe to eat. For example, Texas Tech did a study on the meat production in Mexico compared to the meat production in the U.S. Due to the lack of information, food safety regulations in Mexico are not implemented by a majority of slaughter facilities and there are currently no regulations for retail outlets (Hunnicutt). This could be a large concern to American consumers because we import over 649 million pounds of meat to the U.S. annually.

The FDA and FSMA, or Food Safety Modernization Act, recognize that foreign food facilities need to be inspected in order to insure safe food is being imported to the U.S. (Flynn). The FDA and FSMA are required to go around to food producers around the country and inspect all 9600 facilities in 600 countries. At the rate they are going it will only take 28 years to inspect all foreign facilities (Flynn). Transportation also plays a role in contamination or spoilage. Food being transported in ships coming across the ocean is not very efficient. They have advanced their technology in order to save more the products but it is still more efficient to grow them in the U.S.