The Farmer is the One Who feeds Us All

Organic cucumbers from Spain are no longer considered the source of the E. coli outbreak but organic and small scale farmers are still under fire.

This is an issue which has far reaching effects. It is hurting small and large scale vegetable producers around the world. To make matters worse, now the latest news on the farm bill (I read it from the Young farmers) is that programs which are helping ecological and small scale farmers are going to be cut in the US setting the stage for fewer and bigger farms.

Getting Organized: If we work together we can build good soil and have healthy food. We've got to wrestle agriculture away from the fast moving venture capitalists who will leave us in a dustbowl to make a profit. 

Join IFOAM! - 

Join your local organic association! 

Meet your farmer! 

Get some dirt under your fingernails! 

Here is a song from the US Civil War, or maybe the populist movements of the 1890s - first recorded by Fiddlin' John Carson in 1923 (I first heard Pete Seeger sing it at the Clearwater Festival back in 2003).


THE FARMER IS THE MAN

Oh the farmer comes to town
With his wagon broken down,
Oh the farmer is the man who feeds us all;
If we'd only look and see, well I think that we'd agree
That the farmer is the man who feeds us all.
The farmer is the man,
The farmer is the man.
Lives on credit 'til the fall,
Then they take him by the hand,
And they lead him from the land,
And the middleman's the one who gets it all.

When the lawyer stands around
While the butcher cuts a pound,
He forgets that it's the farmer feeds 'em all.
And the preacher and the cook
Go a-strollin' by the brook,
They forget that its the farmer feeds' em all.
The farmer is the man,
The farmer is the man.
Lives on credit 'til the fall,
With the interest rate so high, its a wonder he don't die,
And the middleman's the one who gets it all.

When the banker says he's broke,
And the merchant's up in smoke,
They forget that it's the farmer feeds 'em all.
If he'd only take a rest,
He could put 'em to the test,
Cause the farmer is the man who feeds 'em all.
The farmer is the man,
The farmer is the man.
Lives on credit 'til the fall,
His condition it's a sin,Cause his pants are gettin' thin,
We forgot that he's the one who feeds us all.