Its not that often that The New York Times runs an op/ed by a farmer, so in the spirit of agricultural camaraderie we thought we should give him some dap. You probably haven't seen much in the news lately about the Farm Bill, there must be something else going on I guess, but it is still an ongoing issue. You can catch up on the latest news at Bread for the World. However, this letter by Minnesota farmer Jack Hedin, who operates a CSA at Featherstone Farms, is a good reminder to all of us who care about local food production (and a myriad other important issues) as to why we shouldn't allow the Farm Bill to recede so quickly into that dark night. Here's an excerpt:
. . . . The federal farm program is making it next to impossible for farmers to rent land to me to grow fresh organic vegetables. . . . Why? Because national fruit and vegetable growers based in California, Florida and Texas fear competition from regional producers like myself. Through their control of Congressional delegations from those states, they have been able to virtually monopolize the country’s fresh produce markets.
Give it a read and since the current state of things in the local food production/small farm world is maudlin at best here is a wonderfully melancholy version of the titular song by Andrew Bird to put you in the mood as you read the whole piece in the NYT - just push the play button.
You can help your local farmers out by going here or here.
*Picture: just some of the locally produced, organically grown little sprouts that have now made their way out of the greenhouse and into the garden and are growing like gangbusters.
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