Posted on 10/10/2024 9:34:08 AM PDT by george76
The vast majority of America’s meat supply comes from four major companies, leaving little room in the market for smaller farms to compete. JBS Foods, National Beef Packing Co., Tyson Foods, and Cargill combined hold 85% of the market, leading to the closing of thousands of family farms.
“Any time something is consolidated … you’re going to deal with more issues, like cleanliness, with health issues for animals, because now you’re cramming them into smaller spaces. You’re just worrying about quantity over quality,” says Brooke Ence, co-founder of From The Farm.
Growing up in a family of farmers and ranchers, Ence says, she became troubled as she watched family-owned farms and ranches forced to close their doors, and Americans become sicker eating food that is mass produced.
In response to what Ence calls the centralization of America’s food production system, Ence, an entrepreneur, social media influencer, and former famed CrossFit athlete, together with A.J. Richards founded From The Farm, a company aiming to connect Americans directly to small farmers and ranchers across America.
The goal of From The Farm is to create “a parallel economy, where producers can now have a direct line … to people around the country who are looking for healthy food,” Ence says. “We help a customer shake the hand that feeds them.”
From The Farm’s website allows Americans to find local farms near them where they can purchase goods directly and allows farmers and ranchers to advertise to consumers. The company is fully operational, but it’s still building out its platform and seeking additional farmers to join the platform and for investors to take part in creating that “parallel economy.”
Ence sits down with the hosts of the “Problematic Women” podcast to discuss the issues in America’s supply chain. She also shares her own story of becoming a top CrossFit athlete, a passion that has opened many doors for her, including having a role in the superhero film “Wonder Woman.”
This is going to become a huge problem down the road. Control the food, control the people.
The goal of From The Farm is to create “a parallel economy, where producers can now have a direct line … to people around the country who are looking for healthy food,” Ence says. “We help a customer shake the hand that feeds them.”
I guess it’s not a problem for small farmers that a new combine goes for about $800,000 that’s a lot of crop bushels.
So what the hell are all those Farm Aid concerts all about, with Johnny Cougar?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/business/economy/small-farms-usda-biden.html
Savage View Farm in Grand Isle, Vt. Its operators are hoping to benefit from a government cash infusion designed to help counteract forces that have pushed farmers off their land for decades.Credit..
The real motive.
Ice Age Farmer has been warning about this for years now
“Any time something is consolidated … you’re going to deal with more issues, like cleanliness, with health issues for animals, because now you’re cramming them into smaller spaces. You’re just worrying about quantity over quality,” says Brooke Ence, co-founder of From The Farm.
Now talk to them about smaller centralized govt and what will we hear?
We are basically headed for Soviet-Style Collective Farms run by the Big Ag conglomerates.
So let’s say the farmer parents pass away, and their children don’t want to be farmers themselves.
Who will buy the farm? Good farm land is expensive. They buyer would probably be a corporation, and not some other small farmer.
I mention this because a friend of mine is in that situation. He’s a child of deceased farmers. The farm he inherited was up for sale. The winning bid was from a corporation.
Farming is hard work. totally unsuited to the mass of squishy, spineless, metrosexuals that make up so much of present-day America.
Food prices will need to go A LOT higher to tempt more young people into farming and allow them to make a living at it.
Government will have to get out of the way too. A friend just sold his 200 acre corn and cattle farm. He operates a small trucking co and his brother-in-law, who ran the farm, is in his 70s and wants to retire.
They had to book space with the local processing plant for slaughter 18 months in advance, when the calves were born. The slaughterhouse couldn’t expand because of town development regs, state environmental regs, lengthly USDA registration, and problems finding workers (they won’t hire illegals)
We buy all of our meat from a local farmer in Washington, NH. It’s a lot more expensive but we know what we get. We buy a half a cow per year, and freeze it.
And worked solely by migrants - who get low pay from big Ag conglomerates, and are subsidized by Fed.gov with welfare, Sec. 8, medicaid, etc...
Here in Upstate NY, a friend just sold his 200 acre corn/soy and cattle farm. Bought by an Amish man with 5 sons. Paid CASH for it.
Nope I know a large farm operator and their harvest starts second-ish week of September almost to Thanksgiving (sometimes thru). He said the maintenance on them is costly as well and can run in the tens of thousands (mainly software bugs and connectivity to other combines, he runs two). Ain’t technology grand for something fairly simple. So, he sells his to smaller farms and buys a new one every year and actually saves money from the upkeep costs, but still, I look at him and say, “800 grand a pop and you save money?”
Don’t get him started on government fingers in the process driving operating costs.
MAHA.
Looks like it.
I have a respectable sized garden and am continuing to learn what to grow best for this climate, how to store it, how to save seeds, etc.
That can go a long way to better eating, especially if you want to go organic as much as possible.
“allow them to make a living at it”
We need to cast off our “elites” as they are the architects of this.
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