ABSTRACT
The situation of the United States in relation to the world food problem as we enter the final decades of the twentieth century is extraordinary. OPEC should by have demonstrated the effect on national security of economic rather than military measures. A monopoly cartel to enforce market pricing in such a situation would endanger national security. Under the best of circumstances such costs will be a good investment not only morally, not only for national security, but also economically. A meaningful American approach must therefore have a worldwide reach. Modern technology has provided the means to store, package, and transport American agricultural produce all over the world. The future prosperity of American agriculture is already linked to a developing international market because its capacity exceeds even the high level of domestic food consumption which marks the American society. The American consumer will pay more for food as market-priced demand rises for the products of American agriculture.
