None of Trump’s supporters voted for meals that prices extra and is much less secure. However, a second Trump administration might be a catastrophe for eaters, farmers, meals and farm employees, and supply a windfall for the most important meals and farm pursuits. Right here’s why.
First, meals costs may improve. So much. And this time, meals inflation shall be pushed by meals coverage selections, not by the Covid-19 pandemic. After the position meals costs performed within the election, some may marvel why Trump would place tariffs on meals imports, which may improve meals costs if the prices are handed alongside to shoppers. However that’s not all he may do. The Trump group may also scale back meals help for poor folks, as Home Republicans have already proposed.
A Mexican agricultural employee cultivates lettuce on a farm in Holtville, California. (Picture by John Moore, Getty Photos)
Deporting meals and farm employees, as Trump has pledged, may additionally improve the price of producing meals (and be devastating for households and rural communities). Together, tariffs on meals and farm merchandise, decreasing meals help, and driving up labor prices might be a meals affordability triple whammy for most of the individuals who simply helped put Trump again in workplace.
“If Trump actually needs to ‘Make America Wholesome Once more,’ he’ll ban poisonous pesticides and meals chemical substances, put warning labels on junk meals, and require farmers to check for pathogens earlier than they water their crops.”
Second, the individuals who feed us may lose vital office protections. The COVID-19 pandemic unmasked the hurt meals and farm employees face, however that may not cease the Trump group from weakening labor requirements. Lots of the individuals who feed us should not solely vulnerable to being deported, they might even have fewer legal protections at work if trade lobbyists are positioned in key positions on the Division of Labor and the Division of Agriculture. Even when Trump fails to ship on promised deportations, meals and farm employees will reside and work in constant fear—and face elevated harassment.
Third, as laborious as it’s to think about, our diets may worsen. Whereas Trump and a few of his supporters have pledged to “Make America Healthy Again,” the trade lobbyists who will possible run the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) and Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) may as a substitute weaken college diet requirements (as Trump tried to do during his first term), reverse plans to require a warning label on junk meals, weaken proposed limits on “wholesome claims” on meals packages, scale back entry to native meals sources like farmers’ markets, and substitute diet science with pseudoscience.
Fourth, despite Trump’s pledges to the contrary, our meals and faucet water might be stuffed with poisonous pesticides and pathogens. The Biden-Harris Environmental Safety Company banned toxic pesticides, together with most makes use of of chlorpyrifos. The primary Trump administration reversed a ban of chlorpyrifos, and a second Trump administration may reverse the ban once more—and undo different current chemical security progress, together with efforts to tackle toxic “forever chemicals.” The subsequent Trump administration may additionally improve the chance of pathogens by reversing proposals to address salmonella in rooster as a favor to Large Meat.
Fifth, the brand new Trump group may intestine voluntary programs to assist farmers get their farms “local weather prepared” and scale back methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Local weather air pollution from farming may account for 38 percent of U.S. emissions by 2050—up from 10 % right this moment. That’s extra possible if the incoming administration diverts funding for decreasing emissions and as a substitute funds infrastructure tasks like irrigation pipelines. The identical voluntary practices that scale back emissions may also assist farms stand up to extreme weather. If funding is reduce, farms may turn into extra susceptible.
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