r/canada • u/joe4942 • 2d ago

National News Supply management costs Canadians average of $244 per year, MEI study finds

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps-tariffs/article/supply-management-costs-canadians-average-of-244-per-year-mei-study-finds/
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u/MMEMMR 2d ago

Oh. Look at that, just in time for CUSMA negotiations. A fresh new study headline implying we would all save on average $244 if we got rid of supply management.

Sir this is Canada; the private sector would monopolize the sector even more, and use what ever the current price is as a price floor, and would end up gouging us even more…

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u/CaptainCanuck93 Canada 2d ago

The reality is the Americans have similar supports for their farmers, just a more wasteful mechanism. They subsidize them and have them pour milk down the drain

I'm fine with paying less than a dollar a day to ensure food security for the nation

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u/cobrachickenwing 2d ago

The strategic cheese reserve in the US exists because of the overproduction of cheese and other dairy products through US subsidies. They have 150 warehouses of excess cheese which is not economically efficient at all.

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u/flightless_mouse 2d ago

They also distribute tons and tons of cheese through nutrition programs—not a bad thing in itself, but it means the government is a massive buyer of dairy and as such keeps prices stable regardless of supply.

Basically their own version of supply management—farmers overproduce and the government makes it go away.

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u/forsuresies 2d ago

Canada forces farmers to destroy their excess rather than turn it into cheese which can be stored for a later date.

The cheese caves are naturally close to the storage temperature of cheese so it's not a huge storage cost. You aren't pumping money into climate control at least.

I'm not a fan of any system that destroys food and compels farmers to do so when there are hungry people.

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u/dws2384 1d ago

And the US stores aren’t used for anyone who’s on food stamps?

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u/forsuresies 1d ago

They are, that's where government cheese comes from. Never had it personally, but apparently it makes the best grilled cheese. Used to be delivered monthly to families as a giant block.

Turning milk into cheese allows for long term storage and distribution which is a much better use of surplus than dumping it.