(published 3/15/00)
Fighting for Family Farms
  by Mischa Gelman
    
   More Americans than ever before are living in urban or suburban areas.
As a result, fewer Americans have direct contact with agriculture, the
lifeblood of our country, and we don't know the sad state of affairs faced
by rural America today. Five times as many farmers now die from suicide as
from equiptment accidents, not merely a result of improving technology.
27% of rural youth go to bed hungry each night, more than in the inner
city. What does it tell us when those who produce our food don't get any
themselves?
   In the 80s, this kind of news actually got reported. Unfortunately,
while the situation has worsened, the attention has vanished. The
heartland had its moment in the limelight and now the press no longer
cares about it. Farmers now get only one cent per $1.75 spent on bread -
instead, a far higher share goes to corporations. Shouldn't those who do
the work get the money?
   Not only do they not get the money they deserve, but they have to take
a far higher share of the losses. The agribusiness system has put the
burden of risk onto the farmers while grabbing the profits for themselves.
After all, said agricultural law expert Neil Hamilton, "Why own the farm
if you can own the farmer?" As agribusiness corporations gain more control
over the seed supply and form a greater concentration in agriculture at
large, they gain more power to dictate the rules via contracting. Many of
these contracts are illegal according to the Packers and Stockyards Act of
1921, but the laws are not enforced as so many politicians are in the
pockets of big business nowadays. Companies like Archer Daniels Midland
("price fixers to the world") and Tyson are major campaign contributors,
known well for corruption in our nation's capital - are these the folks we
want to win out over ordinary people like you and me who are having
trouble maintaining their way of life? Don't we care about family
traditions of making a living of the land?
   Some conservatives will claim that agribusiness helps family farmers.
The farmers, though, disagree. A survey in Swift County, Minnesota, found
that one third of family farmers thought that agribusiness corporations
"don't care at all" about their survival - only 5 percent pegged those
corporations as very concerned. Sounds like the family farmers know who's
on their side much better than non-farmers raking in agribusiness dollars.    
   Other conservatives will say these farms can't compete. Baloney. They
don't get the chance to even see if they can. Agribusiness gets bolstered
by heavy government subsidies and skims off the farmers' profit for
themselves. In such an environment, competition is rigged against the
everyday people in favor of the fat cats. Also, family farms have to
have been pretty darned "comptitive" to survive 25 years of assault and 
three huge waves of bankrupcies over this period. In addition, the big
companies have a stranglehold on export licensing, eliminating that venue
of sales for family farms. The conservative hatred for family farmers was
evidenced by the 1996 "Freedom to Farm Act," a hateful blow aimed at
family farms. American Corn Growers board member Dan McGuire called this
law disastrous, saying it "works for a few mega corporations and against
nearly two million independent businesses we know as family farms." Many
Republicans claimed otherwise, but their lies have been exposed by the
results of this legislation.
    Just as conservatives don't seem to care, nor do their libertarian
allies - what else do we expect from suburbanites preaching a neo-hippie,
pro-corporatist line? They could care less about family farms and are even
more prone to use the "can't compete" claim. The Democrats, once the party
of farmers, now ignores them since it has been safely bought off by
agribusiness interests. The left isn't a strong voice, though seemingly
they should care about exploited workers. Joel Dyer, author of "Harvest of
Rage," said, "Can you imagine how hard it would be to raise money from
wealthy liberals to help poor white males?...The left needs to realize
that low-income whites...are not and have never been the enemy" and points
out that poor white men have more in common with blacks and hispanics than
with white CEOs. What ever happened to the populist notion that whites and
blacks should work together in their common interests? What ever happened
to the notion that we should preserve communities rather than let them die
off in some kind of competition only a social darwinist would approve of? 
    Thomas Jefferson wrote, "[Family farmers] simply want their labor to
be valued, their products to be competitive, and their own government to
take their side in the global marketplace. America's farmers are asking
for nothing more. They deserve nothing less."
    What we eat and where we buy our food from are important things to
consider. Buy at a farmer's market. Push for anti-trust enforcement and the
elimination of the "Freedom to Farm Act." Care about your fellow citizens. 

    Mischa Gelman is a Polish-Paraguaian Pittsburgher proudly preaching
populism.