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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Factory Farm or Family Farm?
  • Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 20:56:41 -0600


As I remind myself daily, KISS: keep it simple, stupid. And I don't have time
any more to beat around the bush. So I'll put it this way: factory farming is
whatever's failing and doomed in the age of oil decline. Family farming is
the coming revolution.

YMMV

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 5/16/2010 at 5:28 PM Dan Conine wrote:

>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;
>> 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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