Business as usual. Again.

Ugh.

The Big Farm Scam*

Living in a cornbelt state, I see quite a few of the corporate farmers. It's pretty much routine. During harvest or planting you know when you have encountered one, they're the guys with the 36 row planters, their own semis for hauling supplies and liquids, giant tractors that must be hinged in the middle to enable them turn turn a corner... They have 30-man crews doing the field work because, with 3000+ acres you NEED lots of people. They have large boats, fancy houses, take European vacations and, at least for the majority, never actually get their hands dirty.

Contrast the picture with the small family where we get our organic meat. They have a limited number of livestock and care for it themselves from birth until they take the animals to a locker plant. Unlike the massive corporate business, these folks are not eligible for subsidies. To make their situation worse, the USDA is trying to force them to number and track every individual animal. (The big guys can just register their herds as a whole.) This will add reams of paperwork, hours and dollars spent on a totally unnecessary program that benefits nobody. Their daily lives begin before the sun comes up, doing chores and ends whenever they finish at night. Mom, Dad and both kids work at this operation, full-time in summer, the kids part-time in winter.

Just something to think about...


* I adore Mother Jones. Check their website out if you haven't done it already.