Family Farm: The American Economy

Nobody denies that the need for more food grows with the global population. Factory farms seem to be a solution to this problem since they produce mass quantities of food for cheap compared to their organic counterparts, which are forty-seven percent more expensive (Consumer Reports). The factory farming business, however, is not the best way to feed more people since it pollutes the environment. The factory

Growing up on a small family wheat farm in southwestern Oklahoma, I have experienced the harsh conditions of farming firsthand. The job that used to employ the largest amount of people in the United States has lost the support and the respect of the American people. The Jeffersonian Ideal of a nation of farmers has been tossed aside to be replaced by a nation of white-collar workers. The family farm is under attack and it is not being protected. The family farm can help the United States economically by creating jobs in a time when many cannot afford the food in the stores. The family farm can help prevent the degradation of the environment by creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the people producing the food and nature. The family farm is the answer to many of the tough questions facing the United States today, but these small farms are going bankrupt all too often. The government’s policy on farming is the largest factor in what farms succeed, but simple economics, large corporations, and society as a whole influence the decline in family farms; small changes in these areas will help break up the huge corporate farms, keeping the small family farm afloat.

The United States of America is the world’s largest corn overproducer. With such heavy focus on corn, I would like to draw attention to a measure taken by the United States government, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. This act increased the amount of farm land that is meant to be used in the States for growing corn from 60 million acres to a whopping 90 million acres. Such a significant increase cannot go without some kind of effect. Writer, Michael Pollan, in his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, discusses the instability of the US farming industry as well as the negative environmental implications corn has on us. This instability and environmental impact has given rise to movements promoting a return to more

Sure, industrial food is cheaper and easier to make, but smaller farms who make most of the food humans eat, do not get a lot of money, meaning people will go broke and lose their jobs. "we are a family owned business." Sandhya Dirks, the author of The Economic Impact of Killing 'Pink Slime' says. To further Dirks idea, their are more people who work on small, local farms, than large, industrial farms. MIchael Pollan, the author of Omivores Dilemma, says, " " If the American farmer is more productive than even before, how come so many farmers are going broke." IN other words- people who work on small local farms, who work so much hard than industrial farmers, who spend their days slaving away in a field, make less then the industrial farmers, who work

Farmers did well after the Civil War and into the 1880s with plentiful rainfall and easy credit from banks. In the 1890s, however, American farmers suffered from drought, poor harvests, restrictive tariff and fiscal policies, low commodity prices, and competition from abroad. A downward swing in the business cycle exacerbated their plight, and many farmers in the Plains filed for

"I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds." These famous words from "The FFA Creed" by E.M. Tiffany outline the basic beliefs of FFA members and agriculturists around the world. But these values, although crucial to the sustaining of our world's ever-increasing population, are growing more and more detached from the people not involved in agriculture. Although food and fiber production has increased in recent years, providing more bushels per acre and more meat per head of cattle, the agriculture industry has come under fire due to an overwhelming majority of people being totally disconnected from the agriculture industry. Today, we'll examine the primary causes of this disconnect, the negative effects on agriculture and our society as a whole that results from it, and how you can help solve this ever-growing problem.

The Labor Unions protect their workers in many different ways people do not know. The Unions make it possible for their members to receive adequate pay better benefits, have left of absences, and have vacation time when you ask and not take the punishment for it. Once you are in the union books it is hard to be fired from it. There is a downside of it, you can be laid off which is not being fired.

The Future Farms of America or the FFA is the extracurricular activity that has affected me the most in my high school years and my life thus far. Many people may think that the FFA is only an organization of farms that go around judging cows and grow plants but we are much more than that. Through FFA, I have been able to come out of my comfort zone, take a leadership position, and learn to give back to the community. Meeting new people through all the competition the FFA does and working with members in my chapter caused me to make new friends who slowly help me out of my comfort zone. I even gave a speech in front of my whole about how FFA can cause anyone to step out of their comfort zones leaping out of the zone myself in that moment. As

I am also an artist. I started painting when I was five years old. Not only do I enjoy painting, but also sculpting and drawing. My artwork has been featured in the local newspapers, several art competitions and even the Florida State Fair. I have won several awards including monetary ones. You can view some of my art pieces at www.CherisAngels.com under the 'Cheri's Art Portfolio'

The agricultural industry: the farms, plants, animals, and farmers, have supported this great country for so long, but lately we have turned our backs on it. Today, we live in a materialistic society, people wanting more and better items, not settling for products that will accomplish the same job.From looking at the fruits and vegetables in the grocery store, we see the bruised or smaller ones left, while the big and brightly colored ones are selected first. In our society today, changes are constantly being made to help expand and evolve the agricultural industry, but it has yet been able to do so. To this day farmers across this nation have not been completely successful in providing for the people who make up this country. In the stores

The future of America is on the farm. Imagine a world without food. Without restaurants, grocery stores, or drugstores. Imagine kids laying in the middle of the road because they have gone days, even weeks without eating anything. Visualize waking up every day and having to go out and search for food, because nothing is available anywhere. Picture living without your morning coffee or your after school snack. This is probably very hard for most people to imagine. Everything that we wear, eat or consume is all thanks to agriculture. That is why people need to start looking into the future and realize that technology, food demand increasing, organic food and GMOs are the future of agriculture.

In 1879, William Lemly opened Wachovia National Bank in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grew to become one of the largest banks in the Southeast. In 2006, Wachovia purchase Golden West Financial for approximately $25.5 billion. The purchase was finalized before Wachovia thoroughly examined Golden West's mortgage portfolio. Wachovia entered the mortgage loan market through the Golden West acquisition, and became Wachovia Mortgage. Once in the mortgage market, the number of mortgage loans to individuals drastically increased. Many of the mortgage loans were packaged with variable interest rates. These adjustable-rate mortgages increased the original loan amount, allowing Wachovia's to earn additional revenues from the

Attention Getter: Picture it if you will a world where we rely on a minute percentage of the population to feed our country. Imagine the struggle they may have to produce food for a country as large as ours. Then imagine what could happen if people didn’t enter this industry and the majority of the workers were past the common held age of retirement. This picture is of current production agriculture and this world is the one we all live in today.

America — a land known for its ideals of freedom and new opportunities, a nation built under the idea that every man and women is created equal. However, the definition of what makes a person an American is entirely different from what it is that makes up America, itself. J.Hector St. John Crevecoeur, author of Letters from an American Farmer (1782), exposes what he believes makes an American. However, when compared to the standards of what makes an American in today’s world, it seems that becoming an American then was much simpler then, than it is today. The definition of an American is always evolving due to the influences of our changing nation. During a simpler time, Crevecoeur defined an American as someone of European

The agriculture field is one of the biggest employers, employing over 155 million people in the United States. What do you think about when you hear the word “agriculture?” Many people would say farming, but this is not the most common occupation in this field. Farmers make up a fraction of the agricultural jobs at 900,000, but over 2.1 million people own, rent, and claim farming as a primary source of income. The average farm size has dropped from 460 acres in 1990 to 418 acres in 2007, while the average age of this occupation rose to 57, making this one of the older workforces in the United States.