What Kind of Agriculture Are We Subsidizing? By Curt Ellis
Hot Question: Is it unethical for developed nations such as the United States or those in the European Union to subsidize their agriculture? Do these subsidies affect the agricultural industries of undeveloped nations and should international bodies do anything about this?
Let’s be honest: agricultural subsidies aren’t anybody’s favorite topic.
Farmers don’t like to talk about them; what self-reliant yeoman wants to admit they’re on welfare? Urban people don’t take an interest in them either; a good reading of the Farm Bill will send even the most stubborn insomniac into a slumber. The right dismisses farm programs as government distortions of the free market, and the left sees them as handouts to agribusiness conglomerates. So why are farm subsidies still in full force? Probably because it’s difficult to have anyone engaged enough to reform them.
There are signs that change is on the horizon, though. In the last few years, farm programs have begun attracting attention from unlikely quarters.
Public health experts have drawn a convincing connection between the kind of farming we subsidize and the quality of food we eat. With CDC research predicting that one in three children born in the year 2000 will in time develop Type II diabetes, incentivizing all-out production of high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and fast-food meat may only deepen our healthcare catastrophe.
Leaders in the climate change community have recently taken up the topic, too, pointing to soil as one of the only carbon sinks capable of storing a meaningful amount of atmospheric CO2. Under subsidized row-crop production (itself powered by fossil fuel fertilizer, petroleum-derived pesticides and diesel tractors), environmentalists warn that this climate-stabilizing potential is––quite literally––eroding.
It is the fallout from the 2008 Global Food Crisis, however, that has spurred much of the recent debate over farm subsidies. The riots that erupted in Senegal and Egypt and toppled the government in Haiti forced legislators in subsidy-driven Europe and the United States to acknowledge the international consequences of distorting agricultural markets at home.
So, with our global economy staring down a climate crisis and an obesity epidemic, we have to ask ourselves: what kind of agriculture are we subsidizing?
Read the rest of this story »
Changing Healthcare Delivery in America By Corbett Brown, Chair, Graduate and Professional Students Assembly
Recently President Obama referred to the American employer-based provision of healthcare as “an accident.” He was right, and this accident, instead of being cleared from the free-market roadway, has been causing chain-reaction wrecks ever since it first began.
Historically, employer-based healthcare started during World War II when the Federal Government enacted wage restrictions and a salary freeze. No longer could employers use salary as a means to persuade new talent to choose his/her company as a place to work. However, government meddling did not stop savvy leaders of business from developing creative incentives to attract new talent. These business leaders used expanded benefits packages as a way to pay for certain expenditures for the employee, which were previously individually paid, thus freeing up that portion of the take-home pay for whatever the employee desired. This was an ingenious method used to attract employees, and it worked so well that it became widespread. That was the first accident, or unforeseen consequence of government restrictions on wages.
Read the rest of this story »
WHAT ASPECT OF HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IS MOST IN NEED OF REFORM? By Arnold Rosoff, Professor of Health Care Management and Legal Studies
Most Americans agree that Health Care Reform (HCR) is necessary. This apparent consensus evaporates, though, when you ask what aspect of our healthcare system is most in need of reform. It’s difficult, some say impossible, to balance the three essential elements of that system: Quality, Access and Cost (the “three-legged stool,” as it has been called). Many believe that achieving adequate access for all citizens, Universal Health Care (UHC), is the top priority. Approximately 16% of the U.S. population, some 46 million people, are uninsured or underinsured, a situation hard to understand or justify when most other major nations on the planet have universal coverage. However, not all Americans see UHC as the top priority. Many who have health insurance coverage for themselves and their families think the main issue is the constantly rising cost of care. Still others bemoan the variable, uncertain quality of U.S. health care. The high rate of medical error and the increasingly apparent instances of health disparities undermine the claim some make that the U.S. healthcare system is the best in the world.
Read the rest of this story »
Cultural Competency, Community-Based Organizations, and a Resilient Community Landscape-Important Elements of Philadelphia’s Health Care System By Raymond Lum, Professor of Health Management and Policy
The healthcare landscape of Philadelphia is constantly changing. Often a byproduct of change is the hope for improved health care. Philadelphia’s diverse population brings much richness and uniqueness. It is when this human capital is used to provide culturally competent health care services, when community-based organizations assume a major role, and when the community infrastructure and landscape is strong and resilient when a diverse community such as Philadelphia’s can best provide effective health care services.
Communities and their community based organizations play an important role in providing a spectrum of services that impact everyday life of many. They vary from social, educational, legal, economical and medical programs. For some communities, the health care services of community-based organizations are the linchpin for better health services; they provide health care services that lay below the umbrella of hospitals and other official health care services. They also can galvanize the community to advocate for health care reform. Communities and their respective organizations provide direct and indirect support to individuals and households on personal, public, private and professional levels. Read the rest of this story »
Barriers to Health Care Access in Philadelphia By Marla Gold, Dean, Drexel School of Public Health
One might anticipate that the question “what are the barriers to providing free health care in Philadelphia?” would trigger a thorough analysis of the various factors that could comprise health reform in our City. Such an analysis exceeds the page limits of this newsletter! Achieving health reform on a National level received much attention in the recent election and certainly ranks high on President Obama’s policy agenda. On a national, state and local level, the ideal goal is to ensure health care is available, affordable and accessible to all people who need it. Rather than embark on a detailed analysis of the nuances of our current health care system in Philadelphia, I offer the following points: Read the rest of this story »
Subscribe to the Calendar