Farmers: Quit farming, let your crops rot, go on the government dole, and make everybody HUNGRY! That ought to light a fire under Americans to fix this problem!
Then the progressives could declare a National Emergency, nationalize the arable acres, bring in government employees as managers, illegals as labor and force the farmers to allow others to grow food.
The drumbeat against farming is just another method to distract people with someone else to blame for whatever. I remember discussing the Depression with farmers and the stories of government heavy handedness and real poverty were stark. When the issue came up in discussions with folks who had lived in cities, with no ag ties, back then, the city people were offended at any sympathy towards farmers. A common statement was:”At least they had food.” Nothing would change the minds of the city folks. The government had convinced them that every shortage or price increase was directly caused solely by the farmers.
People think they are going to live off their gardens. They are delusional. Growing enough food for even two people to eat sufficiently for a year, then preserving that food is an immense amount of labor and takes a lot of expensive energy. That doesn’t even take into account the weather, poor crops, crop disease and a host of other factors that can destroy the best plans for growing food. Up North, nothing grows outdoors in the winter and in the Deep South, the summer is too hot for much agriculture. Not every hunt is successful, either. Up here in the North, we can ice fish, but with governmental control of all water, I am sure there will be attempts to limit all fishing. In fact, IIRC, there are already moves afoot to do just that. Much of the river that borders our land is already a National Trout Stream with a limited season and catch & release rules for many miles. It is already dependent on artificial stocking.
Wait until the old farmers retire, the young ones with no equity go broke, the machinery and fuel shortages hit the remainder and the cost of transportation drives shortages and food inflation. I think there will be an end to any so-called obesity epidemic. It will be another unwasted crisis. Imagine even a small city with designated shopping hours and a strict monetary or per item limit on what can be purchased. How easy would it be for the media to deflect all blame to the ag producers?