Madam, - Malcolm Thompson, President of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association, tells us that farmers' "subsidies (currently in their death throes) were introduced to complement the existence of a cheap food policy which has been sustained over a number of years" (April 7th).
Where did he get this idea from? The Common Agricultural Policy was introduced solely to encourage agriculture by guaranteeing to buy farmers' produce at elevated prices whether there was a market or not. This has had the effect of increasing, not decreasing, food prices to consumers, which is why cheaper imports from the developing world have had to be kept out of the EU. Thus the Cap, by rewarding uneconomic farmers, punishes consumers through higher taxes and higher food prices, and third world farmers by denying them access to rich EU markets. American agricultural subsidies do the same.
There are simply too many farmers and farms in the Western world. - Yours, etc,
TONY ALLWRIGHT, Killiney, Co Dublin.