More on Farming
John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri has written a number of highly interesting papers on the state of American farmers and sustainable agriculture.
In one of these papers (they're all pretty good) he talks about The Case for Common Sense:
American farmers have been told they must specialize, mechanize, and manage their farms like a business – it’s the logical, reasonable thing to do. But, this logic and reason has led to fewer farms, larger farms, and increasingly, to corporate control of farming. Being logical and reasonable has brought the demise of family farms and now threatens the food security of the nation. Maybe it’s time to try something else. Maybe it’s time for farmers to rely on their common sense....
Our common sense today tells us something is fundamentally wrong in American agriculture. We are told we shouldn’t be concerned about the current farm financial situation. The current crisis is just a normal economic adjustment, and the free-market ultimately works for the good of all, so they say. We are told we shouldn’t be concerned about the natural environment, that we have no proof we are damaging the natural ecosystem, and after all, we can find a technological fix for any ecological problem. We are told we shouldn’t be concerned about what is happening to family farms and rural communities, that rural people want the same things urban people want, and thus, they must give up their rural ways of life. But, our common sense tells us that something is fundamentally wrong in rural America – economically, ecologically, and socially.
I once had a major revelation at the annual Pork Congress. Specifically, that, mostly, there are no villians, that everyone (or nearly everyone) is trying their hardest to Do Good, to make an honest living, to help others when they can, to leave their mark in the world. And when you look at things that way--that everyone is doing the best they can--it doesn't necessarily change where you want to go, but it may change the means you use to get there and who you enlist as your allies.
Just like black people don't need white liberals (or worse, white conservatives) telling them what they can and cannot care about, farmers don't need 'city folk' telling them what they can and cannot do with their land. What we (all of us) need instead are to find ways to work together, to understand each other, to honor one another's values, and to make a difference for everyone. Small farmers are getting hammered in the new industrial, global landscape. Environmentalists, people concerned about the food supply, and even just folks who like a good tasty meal should be allies, if not friends, of farmers and other rural citizens in working against corporatization, conglomeration, and industrialization.