Local Commentaries
(2009-06-29)
Heather McIlvaine-Newsad
The diversity of the farmers in the PRI series - from the Hopi and Pima of Bacavi, Arizona to Community Supported Agriculture farmers in California, the Wise family hog farm in North Carolina, the Hager Brother's dairy in Massachusetts, or the family grain farm in Iowa - reflects not only the variety of food available to us but also the variety of farming practices and people who grow the food we eat.
Why should we care about the people who grow our food or how it's produced? Because when we care others care. Personally, I think we should all know about who grows our food and how it is grown.
If you ask me where I am from, I will tell you that I am a farm girl from southern Ohio. And if I had my way, I would still live there. My brother and I are the 7th generation to be born and raised on the farm. My dad retired from farming a few years ago and my brother now farms the 2000-plus acres on his own. He is among the 2% of our nation's food producers. He knows how to grow things so that others, like me, don't have to.
I am very proud of him and how well he runs the farm. As we heard in the "5 Farms" series, farming is not an easy job. It's not just about planting a seed, waiting a while, and then harvesting it. There is an instability involved on a daily basis that most of us will never know. Will the weather, markets, political climate (you fill in the blank) cooperate this year?
I was struck by one of the comments of the younger farmers from Massachusetts about being a "dumb farmer." My dad always said there here is no such thing as a "dumb farmer" because they would all be out of business. I guess what I am trying to say here is that each farmer has an understanding of the land and crops that are unique to his or her environment and culture. For example, the Hopi and Pima know how to grow corn in a drought stricken environment that receives no more than 8-12 inches of rain a year. This kind of knowledge does not develop overnight or in one or two generations. It requires a relationship with the land that only people who grown things can cultivate.
The kind of farming my brother does requires a different type of knowledge. To be a successful farmer in today's world market you must have a thorough understanding of economics, chemistry, changing climate conditions, know how to fix big machinery, and be well versed in a wide variety of subjects I know nothing about. Did I say that I am very proud of him? I am.
But, what I am not proud of is the food system we have created that feeds the vast majority of Americans today. The highly mechanized industrial government subsidized petro/chemical dependent farming we have created is shaping the future of my family's farm and limiting choices my brother has as a farmer. The food he grows - corn, soybeans and some wheat isn't the mainstay of my diet. Some of his crops feed the animals - mostly poultry - that you and I eat in turn. Other crops are in the foods that many Americans consume every day - ready to eat, quick serve, processed foods.
My family's farm typifies the majority of farms in the United States today - family-run industrial farming. Under my brother's guidance the farm has produced higher yields and is more economically profitable than ever before. At the same time it is less diverse.
When I was a little girl, my dad raised hogs and beef cattle in addition to grain crops. My Grandma Mildred kept chickens for eggs and fried chicken. Dad sold off the cattle herd in the late 1970's when it was no longer economically profitable to raise cattle on a small scale. The hamburger and steaks we ate at home came from the farm, yet until I was an adult I never thought to ask where the beef in the fast food hamburgers came from. Who were the farmers who raised those cattle and where were their farms?
I know that my brother and others like him hold many of the same values as those who farmed before him. We have a long running conversation about the importance of making sure the farm is in good shape - better than when he took over farming - for future generations.
I also know that one of the reasons he farms is because of the independence, freedom, and self reliance. But here is the paradox, farmers like those in my family are no longer truly independent and self-sufficient, they are constrained by what the giants of the food industry dictate. So why should we care? Because every time you and I eat, we are voting with our forks for what we want our food and farmers to look like.
Am I asking you to give up fast food completely? Yes! Well no, not really. I can't ask you to do what I can't do myself. But what I am asking all of us to do is to be more mindful, more aware of where our food comes from, who grows it, and how it is grown.
Farmers by themselves are powerless to fight the food industry giants, they need to make a living too. If the market says it needs more corn, then of course you grow corn. But, this is where you and I come in. If we decide that instead of buying hamburger from our local superstore we are going to go to the local farmer's market and buy it directly from the people who raised the cow, then we are changing the system.
Each individual choice is important. On an individual level the average consumer doesn't feel like they have much power, but every time you buy something you are voting for what you want.
So here is my charge to myself and all of you out there. The next time you go to the store ask yourself who is the farmer behind the Aunt Jemima maple-flavored syrup? Is there someone in my area who produces pure maple syrup? The answer is yes! Go to your local farmer's market and find them.
In Macomb the farmer's market takes place on the downtown square every Thursday and Saturday from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. No processed food here. Instead you will find a wide array of locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables, homemade breads and pies, jams and sustainably produced meat, eggs, and poultry.
Talk to the farmers who are there and try something that they have grown. Stop at the local orchard or you-pick farm and buy those blackberries and blueberries that are in season.
Celebrate the diversity of farmers and farm practices we have in west-central Illinois. Think about what you are putting in your basket and on your plate. Each time you make a purchase from a local farmer, you are encouraging the diversity and variety on farms and of farmers. Don't underestimate your power as an individual.
As anthropologist Margaret Meade once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." © Copyright 2012, wium
