From Where I Sit
Chris Gibbs
There’s a food fight on the horizon, and U.S. farmers stand to lose.
After being floated for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was ultimately confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. According to the HHS website, their mission is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans by providing effective health and human services and fostering sound and sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.
A tall order for Kennedy, as his stance on America’s food system has been a blend of alarmism, conspiracy theories, and musings about increased regulation on U.S. agriculture.
Agriculture In The Crosshairs
In supporting Kennedy for a cabinet post, the president wanted him to ‘go wild’ on health, food, and medicine. That must have been music to Kennedy’s ears as he’s spent his career promising to unravel 80 years of farm policy, claiming seed oils and sweeteners from soybeans and corn were responsible for a health crisis in America, and stating under oath in 2009 that hog farmers are more of a threat to the American people than Osama bin Laden. And if that isn’t enough, he’s openly lamented that U.S. farmers are poisoning our food while destroying soils, claiming what U.S. farmers grow “isn’t even food anymore.”
Kennedy has also been a vocal critic of genetically modified seed technology used by what he has determined to be (without quantification) ‘large-scale’ agriculture. The same regulatory zeal he’s promised to target U.S. farmers’ weed and pest control tools with, he wants to apply to ag-related biotechnology that has already been tested, proven, licensed, and labeled by the Environmental Protection Agency in coordination with the Food and Drug Administration.
Survival of the Species
The American consumer is more acutely aware of their diet now than ever before. Today, cable channels run food and cooking shows 24/7 focusing on locally grown foods, healthy preparation methods, organic production, farmers markets, and the best ‘ribs’ on Main Street. The programming is popular because food and food preparation aren’t just novel, they’re ingrained within our DNA. Food, and its relationship to our health, is how our species will survive.
Blame Game
The National Institute of Health indicates obesity rates in children have tripled in the past 30 years, leaving nearly one in five children or adolescents obese. The result is hypertension, leading to additional health concerns that strain our struggling healthcare system. These facts are undisputed.
Critics argue the way food is both produced and processed in the U.S. is to blame for more ills than just obesity. On the processing side, they cite ‘ultra-processed’ foods as the root of bad dietary choices. Harvard Medical School defines ultra-processed foods as foods made chiefly from substances extracted from foods, such as fats, starches, added sugars, and hydrogenated fats that may contain additives like artificial colors and flavors or stabilizers. I accept that processing methods are linked to the overconsumption of sugars, fats, and artificial ingredients. These observations are rooted in science.
On the production side, critics get their juices flowing by dragging U.S. agriculture into the abyss. Kennedy and those thrilled with ‘going wild’ on health and food policy paint a dark picture of U.S. agriculture that extends to the American farmer and rancher. They use phrases like ‘big ag’, ‘factory farm’, industrial agriculture’, ‘growth hormones’, and ‘dangerous antibiotics’ to inflame the public as a means to an end, which too often involves soliciting a monetary contribution. They claim that modern production methods, which in truth have allowed American farmers like me to increase crop yields using less water and fewer herbicides and pesticides, are responsible for poisoning our food supply. Yet today, that very same seed technology allows me to use 65 percent less of the ‘active ingredient’ (the chemical formulation that controls the target weed or pest) than I did when I started farming in the late 1970s.
We’re All In
What I’ve given my whole adult life to is not a diabolical scheme to degrade the health of the American public. Farmers and ranchers are all about promoting healthy diets and healthy food choices for Americans. We’re all in on farm policy solutions to eliminate food deserts and junk food hot spots. We’re all in on supporting legislation that provides fruit and vegetable growers with more risk management tools so that farmers can make that healthy produce available in more locations. And we’re all in on conservation programming that supports sustainable ag practices.
We’re also all in on increasing food education in our public schools that focuses on healthy choices. We’re all in on instruction that alerts students to the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise. And how about instruction on the centuries-old art of canning wholesome foods and managing a home kitchen pantry. For me, the crucial ingredient in this recipe for success is a cup or two of personal responsibility.
Who’s Going To Stand Up?
A national dialogue on food and health policy is afoot. This food fight will initially target food processors, pesticide and herbicide manufacturers, biotech seed developers, and integrated meat packers. However, farmers and ranchers will inevitably be caught in the crossfire, regardless of the assurances from our top elected officials that they ‘love’ us.
So who’s going to stand up for farmers in this fight?
~ And that’s the way I see it from where I sit.
Gibbs is a farmer and lives in Maplewood, Ohio. He and his family own and operate 560 acres of crops, hay, and cattle. Gibbs is retired from the United States Department of Agriculture and currently serves as President of the Gateway Arts Council, Chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party, and President of Rural Voices USA and Rural Voices Network.
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