PBS’s NOW to Report on Cotton Subsidies
This week’s episode of the PBS program NOW is looking at cotton. Specifically, are government subsidies to U.S. cotton farmers causing starvation in Africa? Activists are concerned that government subsidies artificially lower the market price for cotton, thus undercutting small producers in Africa.
It is an interesting question to consider, but why on a food blog? It fits here because cotton subsidies are part of the Farm Bill, the massive piece of legislation that might be rewritten in Congress this year. Cotton farmers have long received government subsidies through Farm Bills, with recent years bringing the industry an average of about $2 billion per year (source: Table 9 in CRS RL33271, Farm Commodity Programs [PDF]). In addition to the large sums, the subsidy program is set up so that the largest farms receive most of the money. According to the Environmental Working Group Farm Subsidy Database, “[f]rom 1995 to 2005, the top 10 percent of cotton subsidy recipients were paid 81 percent of cotton subsidies.” The top 1% of recipients got 28% of the funds, more than $5 billion, an average of $2.2 million per recipient. The bottom 80% of the recipients got just over $7,000 each (on average). The House and Senate Budget Committees will allocate a fixed amount for the Farm Bill, and every dollar spent on cotton subsidies is a dollar that can’t be spent on anti-hunger programs, organic farming research, or programs to incorporate locally-grown produce into school lunches.
In most PBS broadcast areas, NOW runs on Friday night, sometimes with a repeat over the weekend (find NOW in your area here). Whether you watch the program or not, you can learn more about the topic by visiting the NOW web site, where you will find links, extended interviews, and possibly even the full program in digital form.
