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If US factory farming wasn't subsidized by taxpayers' money the industry wold operate at a loss. The last guy I talked about this said that as it stands, they only make approximately $50 per cow after the cost of feeding and killing them.
I can't find the article but I read one once that stated that farmers need to feed beef cattles something like 11 times the amount of calories than what they produce. That's land being used just to feed cows instead of like cutting back on say, 80% of that land and being able to grow enough plants to feed the entire country
It's not that far fetched to say that if we stopped subsidizing the factory farming industry and instead subsidized plant-base ag, we could potentially feed the country for free. I know realistically that wouldn't even happen because the US government lets manufacturers and retail make up whatever prices they want.
We could right now. Not potentially, but completely and easily. With the amount of food that is intentionally just destroyed to maintain profits, we could do it. That's not to mention all the food that even makes onto the market and gets distributed but is thrown out at grocery stores and restaurants because it didn't sell fast enough, then tossed into dumpsters with bleach poured on it so unhoused people can't even dumpster dive for subsistence. The amount of food is not the issue, not at all. As always, it's the system and the greed of capitalists that perpetuate it that is the problem.
That said, I don't mean to detract from anything in your comment because it's accurate and you're right.
Yeah for sure but I was just referring to a hypothetical where we just stop using the money that is for factory farm subsidies and use it for sustainable plant-based ag.
In a better world, we wouldn't be throwing away 40% of the food made because it wasn't able to turn a profit. But in a better world, the US probably wouldn't spend $800 billion a year killing poor brown people in other countries too.
And tbh, attempting to pursue the food waste issues you mentioned might be an easier route to feed the population.
Probably won't happen since capitalism absolutely has to turn a profit even at the cost of people living.
This is true.
Or at least they'd need to raise the price of beef to its natural equilibrium point, where people would probably decide "I'll take the vegetarian option" on their own.
I've heard a few times that if people were to pay the real price for beef at the store, it would be something like $30 per lb. This is in contrast to the "vegan tax" where plant-based meat substitutes are artificially marked up in price to seem like the more expensive option.