As part of our work in farmers markets and sustainable food, my husband and I visit our regional farms regularly, and what strikes me more than anything else is not the heritage breeds of cattle who follow their rancher to new pastures with the devoted eagerness of a duckling following its mother. It’s not the huge blooming flowers, or the grass-fed Jersey cows lining up to be milked. It’s not the decades-old orchards blossoming in spring with frothy white flowers or hanging heavy with fruit come late summer.
What strikes me most is the fragility with which these ranchers and farmers work with great purpose in the face of regulations and governmental policies that favor industrial agriculture. Steadfastly they work, eschewing massive industrial production – in favor of the old ways that nourish the soil, the community and my family.
It is this very adherence to the old ways and to the farm-to-consumer relationship that is currently under threat. And while we can wistfully continue to celebrate small farms, sustainable agriculture and the concept of real food, celebration is simply not enough. These farms need real advocates. Advocates who can fight for them publicly in the face of growing pressure.
For this reason, I support the Farm-to-consumer Legal Defense Fund – a nonprofit 501(c)4 organization devoted to protecting the rights of our nation’s small farms, artisan food producers and consumers.
Your right as a consumer (and those of your farmer) are under threat.
The FDA has gone on record stating that you do not have the right to consume or feed your children any particular food, and that you do not have a general right to bodily and physical health. Further, small farms across the country face the serious threat of being raided, their products seized, their family life disrupted and their livelihood taken away coupled with insurmountable legal expenses.
While the primary target of government health officials seems to be those who sell raw milk either on the farm or through herd-share agreements, farmers undertaking farm-to-table dinners are harassed, state health departments have even considered criminal prosecution of consumers, and have seized thousands of dollars in food in similar raids on private buying clubs around the country.
Small farms are being systematically targeted, and as those small farms are targeted and their ability to supply food disrupted, so too are your rights as a consumer similarly hindered which is why farms not only benefit from your support at the farmers market, but from your support of advocacy groups like the Farm-to-consumer Legal Defense Fund.
Farm raids target small farms, not large agribusinesses.
In the wake of massive food recalls on industrially produced beef, turkey, eggs and other foods, our state and federal governments choose to ignore the true threat to public health represented by mass-produced and mass-distributed food while, instead, focusing their attention on shutting down small farms selling raw milk, and artisanal cheese – seizing their products even when no case of illness is present.
While large agricultural giants who rely on mass-production of foods in feedlots and through other industrial means may sicken hundreds of people each year and recall millions of pounds of turkey and other foods, the threat they create to public health is ignored while government agencies instead choose to focus their energies on shutting down small farmers – the very people who don’t have the means to defend themselves.
The cost of legal expenses is insurmountable.
The small family farms that find themselves raided, their product seized and their ability to do business effectively quashed do not employ the string of attorneys that large agricultural businesses have access to. They’re simple, small farms – like the ones I visit each season and the ones you support when you shop at your local farmers market. Further, raids can shake the very core of these families - some of whom have struggled to keep small children calm while armed officers go through their foods, their personal belongings and their computers.
The cost of hiring attorneys in the wake of a raid or product seizure and the years it can take in court is often insurmountable, and like any small business or family just struggling to make it, they haven’t the financial resources to hire expert attorneys or to seek out advocates that can help them.
I chose to stop complaining and start acting.
Each year seems to bring another story of another small farm raided, while the recalls of industrial agriculture grow and grow. The injustice is staggering.
Like you, I wonder, “Why’s the government worried about my favorite artisanal cheese when more industrial beef is recalled because of e. coli contamination? Why is the government worried about my raw milk when 300,000 cases of apples are recalled for listeria?
More importantly, why are small farms with so few defenses so consistently targeted?
Instead of complaining, instead of sighing in exasperation, I chose to act. Not only do I spread the word about these cases, but also I choose to support the Farm-to-consumer Legal Defense Fund with my financial donation.
While I may celebrate the beauty of small farms and shop farm-direct through CSAs and farmers markets, I know that it is my commitment to supporting advocacy for these small farms that really counts.
How to Support the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
If you similarly find yourself outraged by the growing attack on small farms, if you feel frustrated by the injustice behind raids on small farms while industrial agricultural giants can sicken the population with impunity, and if you’re wondering what you can do, I strongly urge you to become a member of the Farm-to-consumer Legal Defense Fund
This not-for-profit organization fights for the rights of small farms, and protects your access to the foods of your choice as a consumer.
Please Donate to the Fund by August 31st.
While you’re donation to the Farm-to-consumer Legal Defense Fund is always welcome, right now the Fund is undertaking its annual fundraiser. Not only will your financial donation to this organization go to support the rights of small farms and aid in their defense, but as a thank you for your donation, you will receive an additional gift thanking you for your support.
While any amount helps, if you donate $100 to the cause, you’ll receive a Weston A Price Foundation Tee-shirt, a copy of the book Folks, This Ain’t Normal by renowned farmer Joel Salatin, or the film Farmageddon. If you donate $150, you’ll receive a limited edition lithograph of Early Haymaking in the Ozarks, and if you donate $250, you may attend a farm-to-table event at Joel Salatin’s legendary Polyface Farm.
That is a great fund for an important cause, in my opinion. Just recently I started to avoid buying my fresh produce in grocery stores, but visit the local farmers market and a nice old couple, who grow what they sell in their backyard and also offer eggs from their own chicken. So happy that I found them – but for all people, who are not as lucky as me, I suggest to just search for a local farm online and pay them a visit. That way you can see best if the food is produced in a way, you would like to support.
Thanks for this article ! I support FTCLDF and encourage others who are interested in maintaining food rights to do the same. You do a great job explaining why this is so important! Keep up the great work!
Jenny, do you know if there is a similar organization to support our small family farms in Canada? Thanks.
Yes. I would be interested to know if there is an organization in Canada. I am from Ontario
Beautifully put. Thanks for letting me know about this I would love to donate.
Well put. Many people benefit from the work being done by this organization. These people not only grow/raise our food, they often times have to fight to get it to us and the FTCLDS supports them in a time of need.
Jen, where’s the share button?! Your thoughts are my thoughts, and you put them together well-thank you! And I will pass this on even without finding the “share” button! Thank you so much!
We have a great system for people who live in Charlotte, NC. Local Buying Clubs bring produce, meat, eggs, cheese, etc. to a centralized dropoff point every other week. If you live in Charlotte, check out farmersfreshmarket.org or polkfreshfoods.com and find a dropoff point near you. The food is delicious and healthy and local!
I agree with you wholeheartedly! We need to support small farms as much as possible. Another scary topic is trying to label genetically engineered food, is happening right now in California (Prop 37 – CA Right to Know) and the “big guys” are doing everything possible to not pass that bill, donating millions of dollars against the campaign and spreading lies, supposedly protecting “small farmers”….yeah right! They want all small farms out and take complete control of our food supply by growing GMO crops all over the world. Thanks for sharing this, I’m spreading the word.
I also donate to the legal defense fund, can’t give much, but I do what I can. I shop at my local farmers market every week. I would rather buy what I can from them than the grocery store. It is really disgusting what the government is doing and getting away with it! I guess the law has nothing to do with common sense.
I intend to support this cause generously, partly because the exact same thing is being done to physicians and no one seems to know. The insurance industry has successfully mounted a hugely successful hate campaign against doctors while they make the private practice of medicine almost impossible. Doctors are going broke but are too ashamed to let anyone know. But as healthcare goes down the tubes everyone will find out.
Thank you for this post and for your support! I’ve been quietly visiting here for sometime- I love it. I currently have bones in my crockpot. Great post by the way.
I loved reading this. We are fifth generation farmers/rancers and we have never been under attack like we are today. I’d love for you to visit a site that my mother authors: animalagarmed.blogspot.com. It might be of some interest to you that there is a reason. We have a thief in our pantry, and our personal education on this subject is paramount. I will share this with my RWR ladies. Thank you again!
Kind regards,
Kasse D.
So beautifully put, Jenny. Thank-you. I have been meaning to sign up as a member of FTCLDF, but money is extremely tight right now. It’s high on my list of priorities, though.
it seems like the small farmers just can’t catch a break. Here where I live we are going through some issues with canola possibly being grown-which if it is allowed (in an area in which it is currently restricted) many small farms could be affected. It is definitely important to support local farms.
Hi Jenny, I love your website and the delicious recipes and healthy foods you promote. I am totally onboard with all recommendations for healthy living promoted by your website and follow them religiously. I would like to print out this page if possible. I would like to spread the word about what has happened to our food and the freedoms we have lost. Thank you for sharing all of your good information.
Carol
Hi Carol –
You can print any page by clicking the “print” button beneath the title.
Do you know if there is anything like this in Australia?
I am not in a position to contribute financially at this time, but I will spread the word.
Thanks for this article. I will post it in my Non-GMO and mom’s groups.
Well said! Everyone please spread the word to your various groups and message boards, friends and family.
We’re at a precarious cross-roads. FTCLDF is in a unique position to preserve consumer access to farm fresh food and save the farms that produce it from financial ruin when they are targeted. Industrial food will stop at nothing to attain total dominance of the food supply, though they may give lip service now and then to “sustainability” or “small farms”.
Please, everyone, it’s time to squawk about this and encourage donating at any level possible.
You can pay the doctor or pay the farmer. Let’s choose the latter and support those who support our farmers.