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  • From: Aliza Vanderlip <songbird97520@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Factory Farm or Family Farm?
  • Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 07:34:00 -0700 (PDT)

Hmmmm....  I agree with the pitchfork part but lots of small family farms are LLC's these days just so they dont lose the farm if some one eats a bad burger and blames it on the lettuce they bought at the market:o)

Blessings,

Aliza
www.eftashland.com


“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

--- On Sun, 5/16/10, Dan Conine <dconine@bertramwireless.com> wrote:

From: Dan Conine <dconine@bertramwireless.com>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Factory Farm or Family Farm?
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Sunday, May 16, 2010, 3:28 PM

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" href="/mc/compose?to=D4E2270F-C582-4102-90D5-5C295EA93CD3@earthlink.net">D4E2270F-C582-4102-90D5-5C295EA93CD3@earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes;
>     format=flowed
>
> 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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