> One chicken farmer interviewed recently in Washington Monthly, who sells millions of eggs into the liquified egg market, destined for omelets in school cafeterias, lacks the grading equipment and packaging (not to mention the contacts or contracts) to sell his eggs in the retail marketplace.
Also worth noting that none of those impediments matter to a hungry consumer; if the farmer trucked the eggs in and sold them on the sidewalk there'd be buyers. It is entirely possible that the reason the commercial food chain has collapsed is it is straight-up illegal to sell the food directly to consumers, so it gets destroyed.
Farmers are not the sort of people who encounter a minor difficulty then think "welp, I'm just gonna destroy my produce, that seems like the best option". If that is what they are doing then there are some mighty impediments in their path.
> Also worth noting that none of those impediments matter to a hungry consumer; if the farmer trucked the eggs in and sold them on the sidewalk there'd be buyers. It is entirely possible that the reason the commercial food chain has collapsed is it is straight-up illegal to sell the food directly to consumers, so it gets destroyed.
Not true, their are models that allow for that with many caveats (Rawsome in California comes to mind), but you can buy shares in a Farm via a CSA that entitles you to the harvest. Its just that most farms are so large and understaffed that his cannot be done. Moreover, they're incentivized not to do so (see below).
> Farmers are not the sort of people who encounter a minor difficulty then think "welp, I'm just gonna destroy my produce, that seems like the best option". If that is what they are doing then there are some mighty impediments in their path.
Having been a farmer myself, apprentice and then Manager, I agree with your sentiment. The problem you seem to be negating is that crop insurance and livestock insurance via Ag subsidies are masking these culling(s) that turn losses into compensated (albeit low) actions.
Its a horrible system that leads to these things, its baked into the system and its not just in the US and Europe, its everywhere. That's how this system is in just about every country with a semblance of a 'stable government' in the World, including the developed World.
> Farmers are not the sort of people who encounter a minor difficulty then think "welp, I'm just gonna destroy my produce, that seems like the best option". If that is what they are doing then there are some mighty impediments in their path.
I agree for the most part, especially with what's happening now. On the flip side, there are times when farmers do destroy produce to manage supply and stabilize prices.
Also worth noting that none of those impediments matter to a hungry consumer; if the farmer trucked the eggs in and sold them on the sidewalk there'd be buyers. It is entirely possible that the reason the commercial food chain has collapsed is it is straight-up illegal to sell the food directly to consumers, so it gets destroyed.
Farmers are not the sort of people who encounter a minor difficulty then think "welp, I'm just gonna destroy my produce, that seems like the best option". If that is what they are doing then there are some mighty impediments in their path.