I always wonder how countries like France will look back at today and regret their consequences of their (overfarming) farming practices.
People use the word sustainable, but nothing in life is free, even if the land is not totally ruined there are consequences. Removing trees, chemicals in the food system are examples that cannot be reversed easily. The cost of fixing these problems far outweighs the profits of today.
Secondly overfarming simply everyone is in a race to the bottom, which is a game everyone loses.
Just look at the global economy, where most people cant afford a home, and simply cant enjoy a good life because of costs and commitments to work.
Can they afford this every year into the future? Because climate change is only going to get worse.
Eatting is never optional. Today we have abundance, but as the future continues, yields will only drop.
Yes they can because that's very typical of the power of farming unions in France. Various subsidies happen all the time and 1 billion is not that much in the sea of government spending on about anything and everything they have... that is, if they don't go broke (which is a real possibility at this point).
Do you have any citations you can provide?
> “that is, if they don't go broke (which is a real possibility at this point).”
is my point. The US is currently spending ~$1T/year on climate costs [1], for example.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44477195
France's public finances are really going badly to the point that mentions of looming financial crisis are becoming more frequent and serious. The country has high debts and high deficit but also high taxation, however successive governments have never taken the political risk of cutting spending.
The end may be nigh [1] but in general farming subsidies are seen as strategic and as mentioned farming unions are superpowerful (writing as a Frenchman).
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/d470e9dd-760c-46ae-93ec-014b59160... "France’s debt interest bill to jump 25% this year (2026)"
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France has announced more than €1 billion in emergency farm support as drought and extreme heat cause major agricultural losses.