Industrial agriculture has permanently altered the face of food for Americans. The vast majority of people in America really have no idea where their food comes from. Sure, adults know that their food is grown on farms, but they don’t actually have any idea of what all goes into the production of their food. As for children…many from urban areas simply believe that their food comes from the supermarket; they have no knowledge of the farms that actually produce the food. I wonder if these children know the old nursery rhyme about Old McDonald.
We all have an extremely intimate relationship with food. After all, we put it directly into our bodies and it provides us with energy. Being that the relationship is so intimate, one would think that we would also have an intimate relationship (or at least knowledge of) how that food is being produced, but that’s not the case in America. This lack of knowledge translates directly into social consequences. For example, people will lobby against various farming practices such as chemical fertilizers and genetically modified organisms without even beginning to comprehend how such technologies are actually being utilized to produce their food.
Additionally, the average American doesn’t know about the people who are producing their food. Across the country, the vast majority of farm workers are immigrants, many of whom are undocumented. Estimates for New York State places 75-90% of immigrant farm workers as undocumented. Considering that these immigrants are the power behind the American agricultural industry, you would think that more people would want to know about their needs and wants. Alas, because of America’s indifference toward farming, there also is a general indifference about the well-being of the farm workers.
Is this disconnect between the average person and the food that they consume truly the price that must be paid for industrialization? I personally don’t believe so, and I think it even has a relatively simple remedy. If we can encourage the development of small-scale, local farms, it is likely that more people would have at least a general knowledge about food production. People are more likely to identify with things if they are in their communities which is why I think the creation of small-scale local farms could help to mend the current disconnect.
It is interesting to think that most people do not consider the origins of their food while their eating. I’ve been ruminating on these thoughts… It seems obvious that this would be the case, as who would be bothered to consider the work required for every piece of food that they eat? In this rat race of a society, we do not have time to consider these things, even if we all knew every aspect of agriculture. It doesn’t help the average farmer when titans of the industry are milking the field dry, but maybe one day they will reap what they sow. Maybe some day, the industry will be more forgiving to the farmer, as with our society. As of today, it is a shame that farmers do not receive the respect and gratitude they deserve.