September 2009 Articles

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Family Farm verses Factory Farm

Just Rambling: Have you ever caught yourself complaining about the price of food or do you complain on a regular basis? I have done both in the past but I consciously try not to complain anymore. Our food production system is the best in the world and our cost of food is the lowest in the world. According to the USDA, Americans spend less than 10% of their income on food today which is down from 18% in 1966. How can this be? Through better research, improved genetics, advanced technology & efficiencies of scale, American agriculture has been able to continue to increase production of food and fiber to better feed & clothe Americans, as well as many other people around the world. Even with this remarkable statistic of only 10% of our income going to purchase food, all is not well on the home front. A recent article in Time magazine entitled “The Real Cost of Cheap Food” by Bryan Walsh, was very critical of our “factory farming” cattle, hogs & poultry enterprises as well as grain farms that depend heavily on large applications of fertilize and chemicals for maximum production. The article went on to say that tax payer subsidies basically underwrite cheap grain which is in turn used to support the “factory farming” of livestock. In rebuttal to this article in Time, C.R. Jolley, writer with Ag Network, blasted Mr. Walsh for playing fast & loose with the facts on this story as well as a story he wrote earlier this year on global warming. After reading Mr. Jolley’s rebuttal I read the comments posted by others to his response. To my surprise the majority of the posted comments took Mr. Jolley to task & were more supportive of the article written by Mr. Walsh in Time magazine. What does this mean to you & I involved in the production of food for America and the world? It means that our society is rapidly changing becoming more involved with & more concerned about how their food is produced & processed. They are disturbed about food recalls and environmental issues taking place in America today. When these issues arise they further discredit our food production system in America. I am not saying that consumers should not be concerned about food production. As a consumer and a citizen of this country they have every right to be concerned but they must also be realistic. Today many people throughout our nation are pushing a movement for more locally grown food that is grown organically or naturally. That is great. I have no problem with that, as a matter of fact, I support that movement because it gets more people involved with the land & the production of food. Even though I support this trend, I am realistic enough to know that this type of agriculture cannot sustain the growing population of America, much less enable us to export food around the world. Even the First Lady of the United States started a garden at the White House. I commend her for this because it sets a good example for others to follow. Anything that can encourage people to work & to grow even a small amount of their food enables people to be more self sufficient & to better realize where food comes from and what it takes to produce it. I would say to Mr. Walsh & Mr. Jolley - have a civil dialogue concerning the production of food in America. Radical changes that Mr. Walsh would make to change our food production in America would cripple our ability to feed ourselves & Mr. Jolleys attitude toward some of the organic/natural methods of production doesn’t give any credence to them when many of these techniques are gaining merit. To continue to have the best food production system in the world we in America must work together to insure a safe, nutritious food supply for our people & other people throughout the world. We shouldn’t have to choose between the “factory farms”, as Mr. Walsh calls them, & the family farm. There is room for both & with proper management, good environmental stewardship, & good animal husbandry practices both means of production can produce wholesome food to feed our nation. Not only should we not complain about the cost of our food we should be very careful about complaining about our food supply, less someday in the future we be without.