Why Should Friends Be Concerned?

The 2007 Food and Farm Bill, due to be renewed during the 110th U.S. Congress, will have far-reaching effects on the nutrition and health of all Americans, on U.S. energy policy, on the future of rural communities, on the global climate crisis, and on global trade. It constitutes a great opportunity to change the direction of U.S. farm and food policies that currently favor large corporate farms with energy-intensive unsustainable farming practices, and that have contributed to a high incidence of obesity, diabetes, and other conditions related to diet. Indeed, even the quality of our air and water is dependent upon good stewardship of land so that sufficient areas of wetlands, forests and grasslands are conserved. We all have a stake in what happens to the 2007 Farm Bill.

Support for the Independent Farmer*

A previous Quaker Eco-Bulletin entitled “Family and Individually Operated Farms and Sustainable Communities,” (Connor, 2003) showed how the post-World War II “Get Big or Get Out” U.S. farm policy has led to the demise of family farms and the rise of corporate factory farms. Rural communities have suffered because money earned by the corporations owning the farms is not invested in the local rural community. Agricultural supplies and equipment are purchased by corporate headquarters elsewhere, so local farm supply and equipment businesses are not maintained, which erodes the community tax base to the point that schools and other public services cannot be supported.

“Independent, relatively small family and individually operated farms try to maintain soil fertility and reduce chemical inputs—herbicides, insecticides, and synthetic fertilizers—to the least amount that makes their yields profitable. Many such farmers have moved to natural or organic farming where they use natural fertilizers, birds, and other insects to get rid of those that harm crops, and soil conditioning methods that suit the crops they raise. They also raise a diversity of crops and livestock that replace nutrients in the soil and maintain its fertility because they know that is what the Creator intended.

“Not only are the independent family and individual farm operators who reside on the land they farm more likely to be better stewards of their land, they are also more efficient than the large factory farm. In a study comparing labor-intensive Amish farms, conventional family-sized farms, and factory-sized farms, the Amish were the most efficient when energy inputs and energy outputs were measured. (Johnson, et. al. 1977.)

“Johnson and his colleagues found that most very large factory farms had a net energy loss. If fossil fuel energy, irrigation, and grazing land were not subsidized, and if large factory farm owners could not collect the bulk of USDA’s direct and deficiency payments, most probably could not stay in business.” (Connor, 2003, pp.2–3)

“The very large corporate agribusiness operations that totally confine thousands of animals are environmental disasters waiting to happen. Manure management is an ecological problem. … The lagoons in which the manure is stored eventually leak and allow the manure to leach into nearby surface and ground waters polluting them with nitrogen, which stimulates vegetation growth in the streams, lakes, and rivers crowding out aquatic life. Fecal bacteria that leak from lagoons into rivers, lakes, and streams can be hazardous to the health of those who drink the water, eat the fish, or swim in the water.” (Connor, 2003, p. 2)

 

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