I know there are some here who own farms or livestock. What is your opinion on Big Ag companies like ADM and Cargill? It seems those are the companies that are basically mass producing junk and lobby congress so they can claim their corn syrup loaded stuff is still healthy for people.
Does the average small or medium scale farmer have a financial gain from those companies existing?
They produce garbage, paid for with food stamps. The food makes people fat and sick, requiring healthcare, paid for with Medicare. The same companies producing the food also own a controlling stake in the pharmaceutical companies. It basically amounts to the fleecing of the taxpayer, (who also eats garbage) to put money in the pockets of large international conglomerates.
The USDA and FDA mainly exist to create regulations beneficial to large corporations and detrimental to small farms. This also works to destroy small rural communities and the food web, (not to mention soil health)
Now bear in mind I am a micro scale urban hobbiest, but the best I can raise a chicken for is about $15-20, a chick cost about $3, it is gonna take about 12 pounds of feed to raise it to 5 lbs organic feed is like $25 for 50 lbs plus labor, plus electricity on the heat and lights, plus electricity for the freezer, water for processing. Chicken at the store is like $5-8 which in my mind is impossible with simply economy of scale.
I think if people really knew about how the food system actually works we would be stacking bodies. What is happening is criminal.
I do suggest reading Joe Salatin, "Folks this ain't normal" and "everything I want to do is illegal"