Food Renegade has an audio recording and the text of a recent set of public remarks at a federal "listening session" in which Wendell Berry vowed to go to jail if he has to in protest of the proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) scheme, which would require tagging and tracking of every farm animal, and likely put many small farmers out of business. Excerpt from Wendell's speech:
I understand the principles of civil disobedience, from Henry Thoreau to Martin Luther King. And I'm willing to go to jail to defend the young people who, I hope, will still have a possibility of becoming farmers on a small scale in this supposedly free country. Thank you very much.
Read the whole thing at Food Renegade, and listen to audio of his statement. Go Wendell! Follow the jump and read Wendell's poem "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front."
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
I *love* that Wendell Berry poem.
Jude -- I think the 2nd part of your equation is wrong. The food prices are artificially LOW because of the overproduction of subsidized crops (particularly corn & soy, although others are in the mix, too). Why do we overproduce these crops? Subsidies. The ONLY way most corn growers can turn a profit is with government subsidies. Remove the subsidies, they can't turn a profit. If they can't turn a profit, they might be encouraged to diversify and grow multiple crops. That would result in less of the subsidized crops, which would actually RAISE prices because of the decreased supply.
Have any of you been following the government listening sessions? Hundreds of farmers & enthusiasts have testified against NAIS (in fact, most of the people showing up at the listening sessions are there to voice dissent), and yet they're ignored (for the most part). It's like the listening sessions are a sham. The government doesn't really want our opinion.
Perhaps the most important thing we can do is to contact our representatives and senators and let them know how we feel.
All the best,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
If prices were allowed to drop, we'd probably end up importing less food, and exporting even more.
Subsidies increase production. If prices go down, marginal production would be removed from the economy. Prices would stabilize at a lower price, but there would be less production. Our food exports have historically been cheaper than domestic prices in order to keep prices high enough to clear the guaranteed rate. This tends to depress prices in the rest of the world, screwing up the market for poor countries.
This is not the only way the US helps farmers, but almost all of them are attempts to defeat the market in a self-defeating way. The good news is that the EU is as bad as we are in this respect. If both of us stopped encouraging overproduction and marginal producers, it would be easier for farmers in poor countries and rich countries to make a living.
The US should use the money it spends on subsidies to keep people fed and buy out marginal land and marginal producers. Spending money year after year to fight natural pricing mechanisms makes no sense.
WOW! This the first I've heard of this tagging system. My two milkers Olive and Nelly thank Wendell from the bottom of their hearts.
How much would it cost a small farmer?
I'm delighted to hear it. We too will not be registering our animals - period. Or rather, I hope we won't - I'm willing to go to jail up to a point, but the state has ways of making one comply, and if worse comes to worst, well... Here's hopes for the best outcomes.
Sharon
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.