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  • From: Dan Conine <dconine@bertramwireless.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Factory Farm or Family Farm?
  • Date: Sun, 16 May 2010 17:28:56 -0500

I'll skip all the wishy-washy avoidance of the FarmAid answer and put it this way:

A Family farm is one where the people who own the farm are willing to take the responsibility for their actions at all times.
A Factory farm is one that is incorporated like a factory, as a "limited liability corporation", etc., that separates the family from the farm when it comes to lawsuits and responsibilities.

If you can't do business within reach of a pitchfork, then don't claim to be 'personal' or 'family' about what you do.

Most large farmers in the modern world do not have a choice but to incorporate in order to conduct business with large banks and feed corporations through business accounts that don't want to be at risk if the farmer gets sued by a trespasser that falls into a manure pit.
Such is the world that we believe it is 'normal' for farming to be subjugated to the same interests that are being 'protected' by a fraudulently justified occupation in foreign lands. Worried about fluctuations in the price of oil? Take military action against unreliable suppliers. Worried about fluctuations in the price of corn? Consolidate all processing under one or two brands and force farms to play by the buyer's rules.
Once the processors and the seed suppliers are under the same name, then the farms in between are just another 'department' of that company, regardless of whether they are large or small, operated by robots or siblings. When the only difference between farms is the name on the sign out front, then they are factories.

Dan C.
Belgium, WI



From: Doug Willhite <drwillhite@earthlink.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] What exactly is a family farm? How does it
differ from a factory farm?
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <D4E2270F-C582-4102-90D5-5C295EA93CD3@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes;
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What exactly is a family farm? How does it differ from a factory farm?

April 2010

Dear Farm Aid,

What is a factory farm and how does it differ from a family farm?

I have some friends whose families are in farming. They were offended when I wore my "Stop Factory Farms" t-shirt. I don't consider their farms as factory farms. But I just don't know the distinction.

?John N.
Charlotte, NC

We get asked this question frequently, from people just like you, John. They're curious about what a family farmer really is, how to spot a factory farm, or if someone can be both a family farmer and run a factory farm. We also receive questions from farmers themselves who want to know if we consider them a family farm or a factory farm. You name it ? we're asked it.

At Farm Aid, we consider these questions seriously. After all, our mission is to keep family farmers on their land. So, what do we mean when we say family farmer? How do we identify a factory farm? Is there any real definition to these terms?

No Clear Lines in the Soil
In one sense, there's not. As farming in the United States becomes increasingly consolidated and industrialized, the face of agriculture is rapidly changing. Terms like "family farm" and "factory farm" are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and the lines distinguishing between one kind of farming and another are readily blurred.





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