The American farmer has been in trouble for the past century. As more and more of the population is disassociated with agriculture, this problem will only get worse. And the ramifications will show up in the most unlikely of places: our waistlines, cancer and politics.

During the Great Depression, the price of goods plummeted, yet many Americans did not have enough income to buy the products that farmers sold. Butter and meat went from staples to luxuries. The government tried something new: paid farmers to plow under crops and kill livestock. Something that farmers found to be blasphemy as they dug a hole, shot and buried their livestock, and accepted the check from the government worker that was more than they would have gotten on the market.

One hundred years ago, almost half the population was involved in agriculture. Today, that figure is below 2%. About 15 cents of every dollar spent on food makes it back to the farmer. The rest is absorbed in transport, factories, grocers and other value-added (or value-depleting, depending on your perspective) processes. Fewer people have any idea what it takes to grow their food and relate to the issues that affect farmers. That also means a very lucrative sector for factories to buy cheap farm products, process and “add value” and sell it.

The American farmer contributes $132 billion of product to the economy, and that is a lucrative market for corporations to add value to and resell. That is one heck of an incentive for factories to buy things like corn and wheat and turn them into cereal and cookies. (I’m absolutely capitalist, but also believe capitalism requires discipline and an informed public.) I’ve worked in several factories that process food, and there’s a good reason why my family primarily buys grass-fed beef and pork from a local farmer and butchered at a local meat locker. The food I feed my family and the food I’ve seen flying down the assembly line are not the same things.

Which brings me back to the original topic — the American farmer. Today’s policies that affect farmers are not made by farmers. They are made by corporate lobbyists, politicians who’ve never baled hay, and a public that has mostly never stepped foot on a farm. That means policies that hurt our farmers and the public who eats their products. And farmers must then make decisions based, not on good business practices, but when they are treading water and trying to keep their head above water. Instead of growing crops that are chosen based on their value as food, the crop is chosen based on yield, resistance to weather and pests, and what the local infrastructure can handle.

I encourage the public to learn more about agriculture, where food comes from, support local initiatives like GreenSeam that supports and promotes our region’s ag-producers and find ways to more directly support our local farmers, such as buying meat and produce at farmer’s markets, and being educated consumers. When the American farmer wins, we all win.

Brad Kramer

Albert Lea