FROM THE EDITOR: We posted “Iowa Family Farm Bets the Farm. Literally.” in our Opinion section because it deserves to be showcased. The following are two responses, one from the author and one from a now-New Yorker but former Iowan. I am a former Iowa family farmer. One of the reasons I founded My Rural America is described below. We need Rural Americans to understand what Big Ag with USDA’s help has done to them, and then to fight back!
The New York Times Author Cara Buckley:
@MM Tanner Faaborg shares a similar sense of sorrow. He described a domino effect, as smaller farms were bought by bigger ones and towns emptied out, prompting schools to shut down. “Past students really have no sense of home, no hometown to go back to, no hometown football games to meet old friends,” he said. “There’s less of a sense of community and cultural identity. I think that’s created a lot of problems and misplaced anger.”
From MM who lives in the Bronx, NYC, now:
I grew up in Iowa in the 60s and 70s. It was a good place to live then. Now it is unrecognizable and this is why: “Iowa is now home to 4,000 factory farms, more than any other state. It also produces the most animal waste, which generates a significant amount of greenhouse gasses and contaminates waterways. After torrential downpours this past spring and summer, environmentalists warned of floodwaters carrying untreated animal waste, which they called “fecal soup.” This kind of inhumane, unhealthy, polluting industry is bad for the farmers, bad for consumers, and bad for everyone in the state. Iowa has become a backward place. The schools aren’t as good as they used to be. Minimum wage is low. People are not as happy, neighborly, or kind as they used to be. I moved back there for a year recently and was greatly saddened. You can’t turn family farms into industrial wastelands and not pay a price. Thank you SO much to this family for showing everyone that it is possible to escape the trap of industrial farming. It was never the best deal for the farmer or the consumer. Now I hope Iowa will wake up, demand their tax dollars subsidize small sustainable farms instead of big ag, and vote for politicians who are trying to actually help average Iowans. If Iowa can be turned around and saved from the disaster it has become, there is hope for the earth. Thank you for reporting on this. More of these type of stories please. We must all work together to fight big ag!