Episode 25 summarizes problems and solutions for farming, ranching, fishing and America’s food supply in Episodes 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. The first lesson is that USDA -- the US Department of Agriculture -- policies are consistently horrible, with destructive impacts on family-owned farms, ranches, fisheries and their small communities. For example, the USDA sets the price of milk below what it costs the dairy farmer to produce that milk. The numbers are clear: In the 1970s, we had 770,000 dairy farms; in 2024 we had 36,184. Our founding fathers were farmers, food producers and food distributors. Today, corruption and bias toward industrial farming, ranching and fishing has changed the character of our heartland, of our nation, of America. The US Department of Agriculture, created by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. He considered USDA the People’s Department, that would follow and support the interests of farmers and farming communities. The episode started with two clips from Brenda Cochran talking about how farmers are left out of farm policymaking and how policies favor big corporations, so small farmers, ranchers and fishers get really hurt. Dr. Kahn reminded listeners and viewers that USDA sets the price of milk below what costs the farmer to produce that milk, then takes money out of the famer’s milk check through mandated “check offs” to support research on non-dairy beverages! The next clip from Marty Irby described the loss of family- owned ranches leading to the rise of a few, powerful food corporations, which is called market concentration. The good news is non-profits are learning how to lobby Congress for change. In the final clip, Niaz Dorry describes bringing the views of hands- on food producers to the policy and decision-making table and building alliances across organizations. Dr. Kahn spent the rest of the episode talking about SOLUIONS and what consumers can do, such as: Don't take food for granted. Buy local, be knowledgeable about local foods. Be aware, read labels. Find out what is served in schools, go to local school board meetings. Be policy aware. Make your voice count: Know who your state and Washington DC representatives are. Go see them, call congress, send letters, call the White House 202-224-3121, send emails. Systems change needed – should we re-institute parity laws? How do we invite small farmers, ranchers and fishers at legislative and administrative law level? How do USDA and Land Grant Universities stop defining success only as economies of scale.
