Dick Gregory on Farm Subsidies
Comedian and food rebel Dick Gregory ran for president of the United States as a third party candidate in 1968. While campaigning he spoke on college campuses about the problem with the US food system in addition to other topics like the war in Vietnam.. He said based on the food produced and sold in the United States, businesses in the food industry need to rethink their priorities and focus on nutrition. He continued to raise the issue after the election ended. For example, speaking at Boston University in the spring of 1970s, .he called poverty and hunger the cousins of insanity and capitalism. He went on to say hunger and racism are also related to capitalism. Gregory insisted that based on the food produced and sold in the United States, those in the packaged food business are demonstrating a disregard for the nutritional needs of consumers.. The same is true with government officials in charge of food policy a the federal level. He said lower caste people suffer from hunger because the land owning caste is more concerned with receiving federal farm subsidies in exchange for plowing under the food they grow. Gregory concluded that state officials are jailing and killing Panthers because they are raising the consciousness of lower caste communities about the systemic causes of hunger and not specifically because they are black.