I was doing some research the other night and came across a staggering fact; less than 1% of of Americans actually farm. This is absolutely incredible considering that there are over 285,000,000 people living in the United States today. The other just as scary fact; the average farmer is almost 60 years old!
As I pondered these facts, I realized how dependent 285,000,000 people are on less than 1% of the population. (These facts came from the EPA) What is more troubling is our dependence is just as bad abroad as it is home for food. In fact, we import over 11% of our food from other countries. 98% of the food isn't even inspected. If this isn't a call for change then I don't what is!
The change has to come in the way we think about farming. It has to be a respected occupation again, encouraging our children and future generations that farming is an honorable way to make money. Educating children that being a care taker of Creation is a wonderful occupation. We will be looking for these same children to carry the torch into the future, growing our food and producing our meat and eggs. The time to talk about it is now.
Quote:
"The more American's worry about health, the more unhealthy Americans become. The United States is the first civilization in history to engineer a food system that is actually making its citizens sicker."
Michael Pollan
That's some scary stuff. You always make me think. Good job!
ReplyDeleteDon
Thanks for posting this. We need to hear it. Again, and again, and again.
ReplyDelete