JANUARY 29, 2006
The
family farm is headed for extinction, unless the small organic farmers work cooperatively to salvage a declining population of their own kind. Agri-business defines food production in our country and the big growers are getting bigger and more aggressive in promoting their business.
I have visited farms in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, California, Washington, and Oregon. Certainly not an exhaustive list, but representative growing regions around the country.
Traveling across the corn and bean belt of Mid America one gets the impression that farm fields go on forever. Seeing the cotton of the central valley of California and Georgia, or the vineyards of the Napa and Sonoma region, or the lettuce acreage in the Salinas Valley, or the sugar cane and citrus of Florida one realizes that our nation has a great deal of farm land being farmed.
Yet, the acreage once owned by many farmers is now owned and controlled by large corporations, for the most part. The little guy has a hard time surviving and wherever I have traveled the story is the same. When the family farm goes so goes the local 4 H clubs, the YMCAs, the small rural churches and much of what defines rural America.
Mass produced food is the norm today, yet there is one trend that makes me smile. More and more new farmers are joining the ranks of the organic growers. The organic movement is growing by 20%-25% yearly. As the local organic growers work together they provide hope for small communities throughout our country.
Ask if there is a local CSA in your area and then join that is a Community Supported Agriculture program. Is there a farmers market? Locally grown food by real farmers is essential in maintaining a quality of life in rural America. Bigger is not always better, though that is the trend with modern agricultural systems.
--Peter