Fleeing to the woods.

We have imported food for generations. If we were only to consume what is raised here,then certain times of year certain products would not be available. Some crops cannot be grown here at all. Bananas,pineapples, and coffee,just as examples. There is a report on Drudge today that due to the high cost of the fuel to ship from overseas,some companies are looking at opening their factories back up here.

Are you willing to give up all the foods that are impossible to produce here? How about tomatoes,melons,onions,and other produce in the winter months. Have you ever had a garden? If you have then imagine living all year on that garden. I just don't think there is enough farm land in this country to feed everyone the year round.

Bil...here's the thing...your statement that there are foods that "can't be grown here" is simply not true. There are farms in the US that can and do produce items like bananas, pineapple, etc. But, yes, of course we will import some items like that. As for food that is not in season, we frequently have surplusses of produce every single year. There is no reason to be importing food that can easily be grown here in or out of season. But, my biggest argument is that the government pays farmers not to grow crops that are IN SEASON. That is absolutely ridiculous.

bil, if we can't grow it here i would fully understand importing it. It's when we can be self sufficient that we should be. :)

so i guess we should all just shut the BLEEP up and dig in huh sound advice

Good question. My uncle, a raving liberal, used to work for the Dept. of the Interior when Clinton was in office. Even he thinks that the amount of subsidies provided by Congress is beyond the support needed. Right now, we are growing corn for fuel, even though it reduces efficiency and costs more to produce. There should also be big time concern about the way in which crops are grown. Some nations have very different attitudes toward using polluted water or human feces to grow food crops. Unless inspectors are at the site, they won't know this from the way the harvested crops appear. Additionally, when you bring in farm workers from other cultures and don't supervise what they are doing, it is quite possible that the expected health and sanitation procedures are not being used. I am betting one of two things happen, these are either imported food or they are organic food. Some larger farms have sharecroppers growing food and they don't ask a great man questions.

Bilmorgbc, you need to Google more, all of those can and is grown in the US, rice is grown in well, the state next to us, you look it up.
The reason we buy and sell food to other countries is simple, economy. It is in our best interest and other countries too, to import and export.
The main reason we are having problems with all the food products is also simple. We have far to few Government inspectors now. The USDA only has about half of the inspectors now that they had 10 years ago.
This one is a bit touchier but it is true, we now have millions more illegals in this country working at these growers and manufacturers plants. Illegals from south of the border don’t have the same sanitation rules as we have. You can ask anyone who have worked in the new home business. They will tell you how they (illegals) have no problem using the bathroom in a newly build home right on the floor, even when there is a port o potty right out side. You put these two problems together and we have food contamination.

Cool, now you're starting to use you're brain.

You're joking right? Do you realize the size of the hot houses it would take just to produce the bananas that come through just one of the warehouses in Galveston? There are at least twenty five semi loads per day going through that building alone. The ship is docked on one side and the trucks load on the other. Oh,and the coffee in Florida? It sold in 2000 for thirty dollars a pound.

Next time Google and learn something Bilm, It’s always the ones who think they know everything that doesn’t want to learn.



The reason that Florida does not grow a lot of bananas is that Florida SPECIALIZES in growing other fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits. In other words, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, papayas, and mangoes grow so easily in Florida that it would not make sense to try to grow bananas, since they grow easily in Latin America. The climate that citrus fruits need is not exactly the climate that bananas needs in order to grow. Although bananas can be grown in Florida, they grow much better in Latin America. So people in the United States IMPORT bananas.
· The USA is the largest coffee consumer in the world.
· Coffee is produced within the United States of America ONLY on Hawaii and in Puerto Rico (a Commonwealth of the US).
· Approximately 8,000 acres of coffee are planted in Hawaii.
· Approximately 80,000 acres are planted in Puerto Rico.
Coffee in not conceder an import when it comes from Hawaii or Puerto Rico.
California can grow bananas also with a few more states besides Florida, if we needed too. Like Hawaii and Puerto.
Rice production has been an important part of U.S. agriculture, since the late 17th century.. Today, six states produce more than 99% of all rice grown in America - Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. Riceland receives grain from all these states with the exception of California.
Arkansas, the largest rice-producing state in the nation, harvested 213 millio