Senator Jon Tester of Montana Insults US Farmers

Senator Jon Tester of Montana Insults US Farmers; Steve Savage; Red, Green and Blue

Senator Tester (D, Montana) has been pushing an amendment to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 exempting small farms from the bill’s provisions. The wisdom of this legislation and the amendment are subjects of legitimate debate, but the Senator reveals his actual agenda in this quote:

“Small producers are not raising a commodity, but are raising food. Industrial agriculture, he said, takes the people out of the equation.”

So, is Tester saying that most of what American farmers grow is not actually food? Is he saying the people who grow it are not people? What is a “small producer?” Do 40% of Americans need to move back into full time farming for us to have “food?”

Ignorance Revealed


What Senator Tester’s insulting remarks actually reveals is how little he knows about American farming. He needs to read the statistics that our government tracks showing that the vast majority of American farmland is still in family owned and operated farms (see map below). He would do well to actually visit some other types of farms that he believes to be “industrial” to see what a great job they do and how hard they work to maintain food safety and quality. He needs to show a little respect for a community of hard working, risk-taking people that are providing us with excellent, affordable, nutritious food. The broad-brush use of the terms “industrial” and “factory” as slurs against most farmers merely indicates a lack of familiarity with the diversity and reality of modern farm operations. ...

Read the rest here.

Comment: I think Mr. Tester is echoing much of what the food movement (foodies) says and I have to agree with the author that Tester lacks the full acceptance and knowledge of what America’s large farmers produces and who they are. But as small farmer, I am very fearful of S.510 especially after the fight we just had in Ohio over Issue 2. I don't want the Federal Government on my farm (period).

However, as a believer in the free market and (small L) libertarian ideals I believe we need to get the Federal Government out of the agriculture sector. We need a level playing field where small and mid size farmers aren't blocked and can compete without the stifling moronic government regulations, and where large American farmers aren't confined by global trade agreements that are forcing them to conform to the whims of non-farming wonks from the WTO and Washington. It's all about just competition and the consumer's choice.

Can we all agree that the Fed screws up farming for all sizes! So for my farm and me I oppose S510. I oppose any and all government tyranny. We must have freedom.

Hopefully Mr. Tester will adjust his paradigm and look at S510, not from the position of big verses small, but freedom verses tyranny. America needs a strong agricultural sector, but never tyranny.