Question

What does a governmental marketing order do in the US?

List two negative impacts and two positive impacts of a large scale shift to local food production?

Answer 1

Marketing agreements and orders are introduced by an industry for supporting stable markets for dairy products, agricultural products and specialty crops. Marketing Orders designs are specific to industry needs and the orders are legally binding on the entire industry for a specified geographical area as well as the parties that sign the agreement.

In the US, Marketing orders and agreements are legal instruments which are devised for stabilizing market fluctuations for certain agricultural commodities and dairy products. These are issued by the Secretary of The US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The fluctuations are regulated through handling of such commodities in interstate or foreign region. The marketing orders for any commodity, other than milk, must be designed keeping in mind at least one of the objectives as provided by the USDA.

IMPACT OF A LARGE SCALE SHIFT TO LOCAL FOOD PRODUCTION:

The Pros:

1. Shifting to the local food production brings in the opportunity to the local producers for an expansion in the production as the demand for locally produced food rises.
2. It also strengthens the economy in terms of the food dependency and security. Moreover, such shift reduces country’s imports, which is good for having a trade surplus.

The Cons:

1. A huge shift can lead to an inflationary impact on the prices of locally produced food items as the demand may often exceed the supply.
2. There could be a reduced access to the food items which cannot be produced locally and are only available in another interstate or foreign region. However, such items may have a great demand.