The Sun Journal’s editorial about Bates College purchasing Maine-produced foods (Sept. 9) ended with the comment: “They (local farmers) must become competitive in the marketplace, too.” This logic completely misses the point of why purchasing local foods is the best choice.

The problem with the low price of industrial food found in major grocery retailers is they are heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Who is paying the subsidies for grain farmers raising corn and soybeans that come back to hurt the health of both animals and people? What about the millions of chickens, hogs and cattle raised in overcrowded confinement, which contributes to local contamination of water supplies, antibiotic resistance in humans, and questionable humane conditions? Who is paying for the health care of the Mainers you talked about consuming the cheap, often processed foods at the local supermarket?

By studying our “health care” crisis one realizes that food is the primary reason our health is declining. Who is paying for the millions of Americans previously employed in farming who have been driven off their farms by foreign trade policies enacted by our politicians, which were written by large international food corporations?

These policies ship our subsidized grain overseas and import often questionable quality food back, all while destroying small farms in other countries. Many of us now raise or purchase mostly Maine-raised food, and we save enough on health care costs alone to make up the price difference.

John J. O’Donnell, Monmouth