I am continuously reminded about how farming is a venture for the foolhardy, and those whose supreme goal is to break even.
I am one of those crazy people who believe that food still drives our country. Many of my small farm companions find consolation from the financial pain by reminding themselves that at least they will get a tax break this year.
Long-gone are the days where 80 percent of the families in America lived on farms and bought food from each other, bartered their excess goods, and made a living by farming.
But Capital Press columnist Don Curlee would have you believe that you are a liberal artisan if you buy local food from local farms.
You can ask any great Americans who are 65 years old or older, and almost all of them had a garden, milked a cow, and bought food from local farmers. Today we have replaced this simple life with the ease of year-round meat, grains, and produce that is imported in the off-season.
It takes 8 pounds of carbon emissions to deliver 1lb of fresh pineapple. Even a hardened, knuckle dragging, republican like myself sees how foreign food can be counter-productive.
Not only does it increase pressures on fuel prices, but it also exports profits and revenue from good old U.S.A. farmers to foreign interests.
This increased profit pressure created by these foreign imports drives many farms into the need to squeeze every ounce of production out of the assets and resources at the disposal of American farmers.
Economics, and farmer self-preservation force the local farmer to resort to tactics that may not provide the best quality, but ensure they can meet the pricing their customers require of them. These meager profits at least keep the doors open for another year.
You can't blame the farmers for trying to do whatever they need to do in order to keep the farm going, but I do resent the short-sighted opinions of an outdated philosophy that was expressed in the recent article titled, "Loco Motives: Finicky faddists prefer local food."
This article says that people who buy from local farmers are pot smoking, VW driving, crazies.
Why is it that we would take a market that is finally paying farmers a price that allows them to earn a living, and bite the hand that pays them? The "movement" to local food isn't about being a hippy and living in a juice drinking commune, as much as it is about supporting local farmers and knowing where your food is coming from.
Ask yourself, does it mean you are hitting the pipe if you would rather have a relationship with the person who is providing food for your family, and know what is going into your children?
Or would you rather do what Curlee wants you to do ... force American farmers to continue to make ridiculously low profits, ship your food in from across the country or across the ocean, and ultimately support farmers outside of your own community?
It's time we realize that consumers are truly moving to support local farmers, and everyone is winning.The farmers are getting a better price, while the consumer feels more educated about their food.
Maybe something like that makes Curlee's toes curl, but to me, it sure sounds like a nice change.
Nathan Syme operates Golden Valley Pastures farm near Lebanon, Ore., and raises pasture-fed, free range beef, pork and poultry.Capital Press
