By Mike Barnett
One of the top stories of 2009 concerning agriculture was how much negative press the industry received.
Documentaries like Food Inc. and Dirt! The Movie and writers like Bryan Walsh, who delivered a broadside against modern food production practices in Time magazine have always given those in agriculture indigestion. But how many farmers and ranchers have really taken them seriously? Few, I believe. We might want to start thinking that direction.
When it comes to food, activists are taking the moral high ground farmers and ranchers have held for so many years. The “safe, affordable and abundant food supply” mantra we have chanted for so long, although true, has been turned against us. We are accused of producing an overabundance of empty calories with no concern for promoting healthy eating habits. Industrial agriculture is turning America into a nation of obese slobs. Cheap food is killing us. So their arguments go.
Six months ago I thought the only people listening to these trains of thoughts were so far out in left field and so few in number that they didn’t make any difference. I think different today.
I received a personal email from a lady this morning concerning a recent blog entry, Five Reasons You Will Pay More For Food, which also ran in our publications.
Here’s in part what she had to say:
“The food industry is funded, owned by a handful of corporations who are ultimately concerned with one thing, profit. And in the name of that, they truly do not care about the local farmer, they do not care about the quality and safety of our food and do not care about the health of our nation’s people. And right now, they are dictating what we eat and the way we eat.”
More:
“Food Inc, did a very good job of following local farmers who now work for these large corporations, the pittance of a compensation they receive for their hard labor, the terrible living conditions of the animals we are eating, the hefty penalties applied to these farmers if they do not follow the sometimes ridiculous rules the corporations pass down to them. And the threat of losing a contract, and a livelihood is such that farmers who know better are going along with it, even though many of them are up to their ears in debt.”
And more:
“Obesity is on the rise, cancer is on the rise. Girls are now starting their menstrual cycles at younger ages than ever before. Why is this? I would argue that our nation’s reliance on bad food (fast food) which has helped fuel the current direction of the food industry and the huge reliance on hormones in our food chain and the pesticides used may have something to do with our sick nation.”
Rants from some ultra-liberal activist pushing an anti-modern agriculture agenda? Hardly. The thoughts come straight out of Food, Inc. But they are being repeated by a lady who said she loves “Texas Farm Bureau, love[s] the stance they have taken on eminent domain and for the most part agree[s] with the political opinions offered in your Texas Neighbors newsletter.” And it was not a public answer to a blog or editorial. It was a personal response to me. Why? Because she is concerned.
You know how one too many bricks can topple the entire wheelbarrow? That’s what’s happening in agriculture today. Consumers are hearing too many negatives about the food they eat and the way it is produced. Those who oppose the methods we use to produce safe, abundant and affordable food have taken us to task. What they are saying is neither ethical nor true, but that wheelbarrow is starting to tip.
They are pushing the right buttons to gain consumers’ attention. They are effectively using food safety and health concerns in an attempt to dismantle the modern agriculture miracle that feeds America and much of the world.
It’s time agriculture pushed back—before that last brick brings the whole stack crashing down. The lady that emailed me said she yearned to hear from the farmers and ranchers who produce her food.
Why aren’t you talking to her?