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market-farming - Re: weekend/hobby farmers

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  • From: "Dave Bennett" <dbennett AT micoks.net>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: weekend/hobby farmers
  • Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 7:52:00 -0500


Negative opinions? I don't think so. What I see are a lot of people spending
a lot of time talking about "us vs. them" & "unfair legislation" against
small farmers & "bad things" (like food irradiation & Round-Up Ready, etc.).
It's like a political discussion: everyone is all indignant & huffy, but no
one takes time to vote. I guess it gives them a continuing source of
conversation throughout their lives without having to tolerate or <!>
implement change.

Bottom line- the food production industry is changing. You'll either get to
change with it or get trampled. I firmly believe it is possible to compete
profitably in this business as a small organic farmer. However I do not
believe it can be done in the way it has been up until now.

Farmers Markets were good for farmers until they were recognized as a
"destination event" by towns or malls (We have malls with their own Farmers
Markets in KC.) and let anyone, farmer or not (We have produce packing plant
employees that take rejects from their employer & sell at the KC Farmers
Market.) participate.

Traditional methods, in any aspect of this business, will not work. Just
because agriculture was slow to gain attention from big business & large $
investors is no reason to believe it will be any different in the
international conglomerate game than any other business. Food is a commodity
product, internationally speaking.

Emotional pleas or politicing or naive appeals to "save the family farm" will
not work. (Look at the example of Japan when they had to import "inferior"
rice.)

You can put your head in the sand or cry out that this is "negative", but it
is reality & inevitable. It is a historical fact that has been played out in
many countries that is now coming here.

The only way this can change is by strong, grassroots political activism. The
big guys are already ahead- a lot. And they are closing more doors every day.

***

You can save your "I like farming, but ain't gonna look at the big picture"
posts in the future. And I'm sure "most people" don't want to see the hard
issues; they seldum do. Most people do not see the changes that affect them
because of the way our legal system is structured. Here's a quick lesson.

Big Company wins case against small farmer with no money in remote rural
County where legal representation is bad at best. Case is not major or
comprehensive, but when coupled with other cases from other States,
strategically selected by Big Company to be in a single Federal Appeals Court
District they force a _legal_ conclusion. Since the cases are across State
lines, they are Federal in scope & local interests are not easily represented
because of travel/time/$. Once a case is determined in one Federal
Jurisdiction, it is easily (typically) applied in others. You are now
affected by something that is a done deal you had no idea was going on. Once
done, it takes decades of hard legal work to change a legal conclusion.

You may want to read "An Introduction to Legal Reasoning" by Edward H. Levi
for some good examples of this & a great explanation of how our system works.
Then again, maybe not.

But look at it this way, the fewer farmers, the less competition, and less #
of participants in the overall process. While you may enjoy spending all of
your available time after your "regular" job farming, I spend my time after
farming talking to elected officials, small acreage owners, & keeping up on
farm related court cases; trying in some small way to stem the tide. I admit
it sometimes seems futile when you hear a Monsanto person say, "it is not
Monsanto's job to guarantee the safety of the food supply, it is the FDA's
job."

I'd love to exist in the world of 1935 when "Five Acres & Independence" was
written. It sure would be nice to only have to worry about getting my
tomatoes to my Roadside Stand or Farmers Market. But this isn't 1935 & the
agribusiness environment is not what it used to be.



"Vic & Pat Jackowsky" <jackow AT gmi.net> wrote:
__________
>Hooray for you maam! You're my kinda farmer! Keep up your "weekend hobby".
>:)
>
>And for the individual who has negative opinions about everything, please
>note, not many of us share your opinions. I too once had a high $ job, which
>allowed me to buy the farm I'm now making a living at. I'm learning a lot
>and loving every minute of it and when I come in with enough dirt in my
>overalls to clog the washing machine drain, I consider myself a real farmer
>even though my wife has a city job. Maybe you could join a knitting circle
>and solve the worlds problems there and leave us weekend farmers to our
>hobby? :)


Dave




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