| Do We Forget the Farmer? |
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| Written by Kiki Hubbard | |
| Tuesday, 21 October 2008 | |
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Michael Pollan has become quite the spokesperson on American food and farm policy. If you're an Envirovore, you know this. In his most recent editorial piece, an open letter to the next president, he talks about the "era of cheap and abundant food" drawing to a close, that food policies are tied to nationaly security, energy independence, healthcare costs, and, of course, climate change. But Pollan's plan isn't getting standing ovations in every farm field. Pollan has grand ideas for desperately needed changes that would put America on a path to more sustainable and healthy food production. The author of Speak Your Piece: New York Times Writes About Food Without Farmers doesn't discount Pollan's ideas, especially a push for regaining control of seed and rebuilding processing infrastructures. But he does have qualms with the Times' "Food Fights!" edition, which included Pollan's letter, as well as other articles on food. Bill Bishop writes, "I read suggestions about what farmers ought to do and how food should be grown, but scarcely a word from the people who grow it or the communities that support agriculture." He goes on: Pollan has great ideas -- such as allowing farmers to cure and sell their own meat and establishing smaller, regional meatpacking plants to encourage specialty meat production. He wants to reverse the flood of young people out of rural communities, to repopulate the countryside with more farm workers practicing a new kind of agriculture. All that's dandy, but what missing from Pollan's article is what's missing from the entire issue. Humility. And any acknowledgement that the people living and working in rural communities might have a say in this five-decade project to remake rural America. Pollan writes in detail about what food ought to be served in the White House, but there is no place in the plan for farmers to talk back or for rural communities to have a role in plotting their futures. The notion is that the new president will order up changes in the way rural America goes about its business and rural Americans will comply. It's not like farmers and rural residents are lacking for ideas or for gumption. Point taken. So, we ask: Has the sustainable food and farming movement alienated the very farmers they talk about in terms of needed change, of the future of food? Are filmmakers and "young New Yorkers," as Bishop points to, turning into the spokespeople and authorities on the direction of food and farm policies? It takes all walks of life, we know, to build capacity from the ground up and effect real change. But if we don't invite the farmer to the table, what hope is there for progress? Comments (3)
  written by Rache, November 02, 2008
I'm a micro-farmer. I'm working on building a successful farm on only a little over an acre. It's been done before, so I don't see "sustainable food" as the death of the idea of a farm. Originally farms weren't the huge things that can't be managed without machines by a few farmers -- corporations did that.
So far, environmentalists have only encouraged my budding hope. But I'm sure that farmers, as they often seem to be, have been forgotten quite often. I think this is a good reminder, that our food has to come from someplace...and not everyone can grow their own, not every city can successfully supply food to their citizens. If nature teaches us anything, it's that diversity makes for a healthy environment. It's the same for human environments as it is for all other creatures.
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It's true what our moms said...we are what we eat. In fact, it's truer than they thought. What I eat doesn't just affect me anymore, it affects all of us.
Unfortunately, the story of food can sometimes be complicated. But envirovores help each other out...which is why this blog will be bringing you news, tips, and information about food and the environment every step of the way.
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I'm not into working at a large producing farm, but I am into growing my own vegetables. It's something to think about.