The strain on today’s farm economy is no accident; it’s the result of policies designed to enrich corporations at the expense of farmers and ranchers. If the American family farmer is to survive, farm policy needs a massive shift in direction — one that delivers fair prices to farmers that allow them to make a living. COVID-19 Ravages the Farm Economy COVID-19 completely upended our world and is impacting farmers and our food system in several ways. Our country’s entire infrastructure is based on a food system that treats food as a commodity, churning over vast amounts of mass-produced food and fiber to places all over the globe. On top of environmental and public health impacts, our increasingly consolidated food system has shuttered not only independent small and mid-sized farms, but also local processing plants, seed suppliers, grocery chains, equipment dealers and more. In short, the country’s once diverse local and regional foodsheds were systematically erased over time as corporate power in the food system accelerated, leaving us all more vulnerable to something like a pandemic. As the need for social distancing closed restaurants, schools, processing plants, and other key markets for farmers, drops in demand and supply chain disruptions … Continue reading Understanding the Economic Crisis Family Farms are Facing