Since Boofer likes my rants I thought I would start one, just for him.
I have long had an interest in the family farm and small scale agriculture, this has only grown over the years. Corporate farms and have tried to sell the idea that only industrial agriculture can feed the world, they have been successful in convincing most people that this is fact. I would argue that this model is flawed and doomed to collapse as oil prices rise or the soil becomes so depleted that even chemical inputs can't substitute for lost soil fertility. Whereas a sustainable or soil enhancing farming model can and probably will succede when agribiz falls flat on it's face. During this time corporations have attacked small and backyard "farmers" as being responsible for the spread of diseases and launched legislative initiatives to make it difficult for a person to keep backyard chickens or other home produced livestock. Fortunately these have largely failed.
Big poultry producers have claimed that the backyard flocks are responsible for the spread of avian diseases, and attempted to get cumbersome registrations in place to make it more difficult for the individual to raise wholesome food at home. I am reminded of a recent "Frontline " episode which tracked food borne illness from a particularly nasty form of salmonella, all originating from a single producer in the NW and from multiple facilities. The USDA (or as Joel Salatin likes to refer to them, the US duh) and the food safety inspection service was powerless to force changes or to shut the facilities down. Almost 800 food poisening cases were reported, 1 death, and predicted unreported cases were put at near 30,000, and still the producer was unwilling to make changes to end the problem. And this is the industry that we are supposed to trust to provide us with a steady wholesome food supply but heaven forbid that you should keep a few laying hens in your backyard and threaten to bring down the entire US food supply.
We have allowed our food production to end up in the hands of a few multinationals. The farm subsidies once meant to protect the family farm are now used to allow these same corporations to monopolize commodity production or distribution. US corn sells at so low a price that a farmer in Colombia can't afford to grow corn, so he grows what he can to feed his family, and in many cases that is opium or coca. Then we spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year to fight the war on drugs. Oh what a tangled web we weave.
It was once considered a patriotic duty to grow a garden, keep chickens or raise a few sheep. Now it is a criminal offense in many places to sell a home baked pie to a neighbor. I grew up buying raw milk for half the price it sold for in stores (just left the 75 cents on the window sill). Now in my state you can buy it from licensed raw milk dairies only on farm (fortunately only about 7 miles away, and at only twice the price). Many states have laws making it a criminal act to photograph a CAFO, or meat processing facility. Monsanto routinely harrasses farmers and has a crew of goons to go out and intimidate farmers that save their own seed corn or soybeans that may have been contaminated with pollen from a monsanto patented GMO variety. And the courts have backed up monsanto in legal actions against these farmers.
to be continued, only can rant so long before I need a break
