Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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project with no government help. But, you know, with the cover crops and
all that keep the ground covered, we don't get paid for some of the good
things that we do that could really help.” Conventional farmers typically
get technical advice and cost-share payments to implement these ecological
restoration activities that are often commonplace on organic farms (at no
cost to taxpayers).
Joel states what many other farmers feel, that the subsidies are due to
collaboration between the government and agribusiness, working to keep
commodity prices low. He says the future is fairly certain: “Government
programs? They won't stop it. I don't think anyone in Washington has the
guts to stop it. They don't have the guts to overhaul the other welfare system,
let alone the farmers' welfare system. It's a shame. But these big companies
are not going to let them end. That is why the farm program is teaching us
not to think for ourselves. So what if you get a poor yield? You get another
$10,000 from the government.”
In Florida, Mary provides an example of how government policy has
trailed far behind the needs of organic producers. “Back in the sixties and
seventies, the government would not recognize organics. The Citrus Com-
mission said it could not be done. In the early eighties, they tried to start
an organic citrus growers' co-op here in Florida. The Department of Citrus
would not recognize organics, so all the stuff sent out of here on the train
was bootlegged out. You were not allowed to send your stuff across the state
line because you weren't spraying it or fumigating it. So all of this stuff went
out of here on backroads to the Northeast Co-op.” Now certification agen-
cies are following national standards, and we hope that the acceptance of
and support for organic production has been established across the United
States.
In addition to dealing with organic inspectors and certification, some
farmers have other inspectors as well. For example,Mary and Robmust have
their packinghouse inspected by the FloridaDepartment of Agriculture, and
they must have their citrus grade inspected by the USDA before it can leave
the state. Mary jokes about the USDA inspectors: “All them love coming up
here to my house because they never know what to expect. Last year they
ran these tests. They juiced up these oranges and put a whole bunch of
chemicals in there to see what the sugar level was. This one guy juiced all
these oranges, had this big bowl of orange juice, and he set it on the steps
of my packinghouse. Went to his car and by the time he got back, the dog
had drank his orange juice! He was so mad. My dogs love oranges! Both of
them do. They beg for them. And I thought, 'I won't sell this load in the
state of Florida, and I won't get the paperwork,' but it was just too funny.”
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