Interview(s) with the Non-Farmer(s)

In my last post, I was interviewed by a non-farmer for my perspective on food and modern agriculture practices, among other things.  In this post, I had the opportunity to ask several non farm folks their thoughts on a variety of agriculture related topics.  The participants--both male and female, ranging in age from early 20's to 50's--live, work, and eat in various contexts ranging from South Alabama to Seattle, Washington.  As a producer, I am constantly interested in knowing if and what the general public thinks about food, farmers, agriculture, the environment, and how these forces relate to one another.  A very recent farm perspective survey commissioned by BASF questioned 1,800 farmers and 6,000 consumers from 6 countries - Germany, France, Spain, Brazil, India, and the United States on current agriculture related issues. (As an aside here, I've been to Germany, France, and India and have friends who have been to Brazil.  For India or Brazil to try and defend their environmental standards while complaining about US standards, well, that's about as nonsensical as when Limbaugh or Hannity try to defend dishonorable Republican behavior by saying "at least it's not as bad as" insert Democrats name here__________.  As if one set of actions/behaviors justifies another, but I digress.)  Some of the results were very encouraging, some predictable, some surprising, and some baffling.  So it goes with such a large and diverse group, each with its own competing interests.  For a rundown on the survey, check it out here: 

http://www.agro.basf.com/agr/APInternet/en/content/news_room/Farm_Perspective_Study/BASF_Farm_Perspectives_Study  

In my survey, I submitted 9 questions to each person, asking them to answer at least 5.  Following is each of my questions, and some of their responses in their own words.  For brevity's sake, I've selected 1-2 (sometimes more) responses to each question.  Many thanks to those who participated and helped make this post possible.  May the dialogues continue.

1.  Other than eating and wearing clothes, what is your involvement in farming/agriculture?

• I drive by farms when traveling.  Sometimes I smell them.  Unfortunately, that is about it.  

• I was raised with cows and cotton around our city. 

2.  In your mind, what constitutes a large or corporate farm?  Do you think family farms are being hurt by large or corporate farms?

• I'd say a large/corporate farm is owned by a company rather than a family or group of families.  I absolutely think family farms are hurt by them.  They can hire cheaper labor b/c they have the means.  They can sell their produce or other goods at lower costs b/c they have more to offer.

• Over 1,000 acres and no.

3.  How often, if ever, do you think about where your food comes from?  If so, where do you think your food comes from?  Who's producing it?

• More often lately.  I have a friend who is very passionate about these sorts of questions, and she is part of a local CSA.  When I think about where the food that I get at the grocery store comes from, I think it is probably too difficult to figure out since there are so many steps in the process.

• Honestly, I do not think about where it comes from.  I'm just glad it comes.

4.  Do you have any concerns/fears with food that is grown in or imported to the United States?  How do you know if it's grown in the US or somewhere else?

• Yes.  My concerns revolve around the standards outside our country.  This is not to say that the US has the market cornered on agriculture but other farmers have told me that the inspection process for food that comes into our country is at best minimal.  Also, I'm concerned with what imports are doing to farmers in our country.  It's one thing to import fruits and vegetables that aren't naturally grown here in the US.  But I live 2 hours from what seems to be the watermelon producing capital of the south yet when I go to the store to buy a watermelon many of them are coming in from another country.  It makes no sense.

5.  Would you be willing to pay more (or perhaps less) for food if it was only grown in the US?  What if it meant giving up certain foods?  What percentage of your income do you think is spent on food?

• I would be willing to pay more for food grown locally; I think.  I'm concerned less with it being from the US and more with how far it has to be transported to get to me.  We are trying to move in the direction of more local food without breaking the bank.  I'm not sure what percent of my income is spent on food, but I do know that if we ate out less, we could apply that money to buying better food to make at home.  That is what we are trying to do.

• I'm all about supporting local business, or in this case, local farms.  However, I'm more about thriftiness.  So, I would definitely buy product from within the US if it was cheaper than other products.  I think about 15% of our income is spent on food.

• No.  I like competition and variety due to free trade with other nations.  Maybe between 10-15% (income spent on food annually).

6.  When you hear terms like "organic" or "locally grown" or "green movement" what do you think?  Does/is any of it:  Taste better?  Fresher?  Safer?  More accessible?  Only seasonal?

• Organic - perhaps avoid some of the chemicals and processing.  Locally grown - fresh, avoids processing.  Green movement - naive liberalism.

• I think "organic" is overused to the point of meaninglessness.  I like the idea of locally grown, and don't really care about the green movement b/c it can just turn into a political argument that avoids the real issues.  I do tend to think local will mean more seasonal and fresher.  Safety and accessibility probably vary.

7.  Overall, do you think modern (conventional) agriculture is helping, hurting, or making no impact either way on the environment? (Think here - land/air/water quality, wildlife habitat etc.)

• I'm assuming here but I can't picture a farmer shooting himself in the foot on this.  I haven't researched this enough but I would think a guy who makes his living from the land would be good to that land.  This has been the case with the farmers I have known.  I would imagine most of the problems come in when the federal gov't starts getting involved by telling farmers what they can and can't do.  To paraphrase Reagan, the scariest words an American, in this case a farmer, can hear are, "We're from the government.  We're here to help."

• Hurting.  The problems of monoculture frankly scare me, as biodiversity declines and crops become more reliant upon pesticides.  I'm not incredibly well-versed on these problems, but I do think making farming answer entirely to a market capitalist economy that tries to drive prices as low as possible leads to problems in maintaining what is best for the environment long term.

8.  Other than me, do you know a farmer?  What's your impression of farmers?

• Nope.  I think farmers are the hardest working people.  They bust their butts to take care of their land and crops to help their families as well as mine.

• Yes, they are the most kind and reasonable people I've ever met...

• Tons.  They're just like everybody else;  some are pretty cool, some are dorks.

• ... I think farmers, especially those on small farms, are hard working people, and I would be proud for one of my sons to grow up to be one.

9.  Since much of the human diet is made up of animal product (beef, chicken, pork, dairy etc.) do you have any concerns with the animal food/milk industry?  Animal safety and welfare standards--diet, housing, vaccines, overall treatment of animals?  "Factory" farms?  Mass (or rapid) production of animals for food?  Food quality/safety?  Other?

• This one is HUGE.  Yes, I have concerns about the animal food and milk industry.  It is a difficult issue, b/c you don't want to just remove all vaccines, etc. b/c then animals die.  But at the same time, we need to be careful about what gets into our foods.  And factory farms seems to me an excellent picture of how wrong our system has gone.  We now have chickens that grow so fast for food they can't even stand up, etc.  Show people factory farms, and they will begin to see how things can go wrong.  I'm all for killing and eating animals.  But if all we care about is cheap meat, then we end up supporting some pretty barbaric practices that aren't good for the workers and don't treat the animals like the creatures of God that they are.

• As good stewards and compassionate people, we should avoid animal cruelty.  But animals are not people and we are mistaken to project human concerns on them.  They want food, shelter, and protection from predators.  I don't think they care about cages and crowded conditions.