Overview

The United States is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of a range of agricultural commodities, so U.S. policies have big effects on global food security and other global public goods linked to agriculture. On the positive side of the ledger, President Obama created the Feed the Future aid initiative to promote agricultural development in poorer countries as a tool to achieve the global goals of ending hunger and extreme poverty, which are mostly rural. But that generosity is undercut by U.S. support for farmers and livestock producers that suppresses global prices for developing country producers, increases food market volatility, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and contributes to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In this book, Elliott focuses on three policy areas that are particularly damaging for developing countries: traditional agricultural subsidy and trade policies that support the incomes of American farmers at the expense of farmers elsewhere; the biofuels mandate, which in its current form increases market volatility while doing little if anything to mitigate climate change; and weak regulation of antibiotic use in livestock. While noting that broad reforms are needed to fix these problems, Elliott also identifies practical steps that U.S. policymakers could take in the relatively short run to improve farm policies for American taxpayers and consumers as well as for the poor and vulnerable in developing countries.

Full Product Details

9781933286983

Table of Contents

Reviews

Kim Elliott has written an important book. It provides an unflinching and honest examination of the oftentimes contradictory agriculture policies of the United States. She spares few avenues as she explains how U.S. policies toward climate, health, trade, food security, and development often fall short and are undermined by 'do as I say, not as I do' policies that run at cross purposes to the goals of those programs. Her book is an uncomfortable look at past and present U.S. agricultural policy, but it also provides an optimistic guide to how the U.S. can provide global leadership in the future.--Joseph W. Glauber, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute; former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Author Information

Kimberly Ann Elliott is a senior fellow with the Center for Global Development and the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles on trade policy and globalization, economic sanctions, and food security. Her book, Delivering on Doha: Farm Trade and the Poor, was copublished in July 2006 by the Center for Global Development and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. She served on a National Research Council committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards and on the USDA Consultative Group on the Elimination of Child Labor in U.S. Agricultural Imports, and is currently a member of the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions in U.S. Free Trade Agreements.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available