Sugar Beets and National Security

Here we have a President's Safety Award badge from the GW (Great Western) SugarCompany. Ok this one isn't military but the guy on the medal is wearing a helmet. GW made sugar from sugar beets like the one the helmeted worker is holding on the medal. Behind him we see the sugar beet processing plant that was in Sterling, Colorado. This was one of many such plants located throughout several western states. The company started up around 1905 and lasted until low priced cane sugar imports drove the beet sugar producers out of business. That's how economics works in real life, if you can't compete you go out of the business and in the long run this leads to innovation and efficency resulting in better and cheaper products for the consumer. Internationally this is called free trade and it works great if governments aren't playing games with subsidies and tariffs.

There is another consideration however that is rarely thought of and that is National Security. National Security is more than just a military consideration, after all it is said that an army moves on it's stomach. Certain commodities like food, water, power sources etc. are vital to national survival. Does it make sense then for a nation to outsource it's capability to raise and process it's own essentials like food for short term economic profitablity? Food for thought.