Federal Funding Freezes Hurt Real American Farmers and Children
Please Watch This Video of North Carolina Family Farmers Speaking Out
Yesterday I stumbled upon a Facebook reel posted by Jamie Ager and his high school senior son Nolin, 4th and 5th generation farmers at their Hickory Nut Gap farm in western North Carolina. This regenerative producer of pasture-raised livestock, is one of many across the United States that have been rocked by the Trump administration's abrupt and counter-productive termination of the federal Local Food for Schools and Child Care program.
This decision eliminates the disbursement of $660 million over three years to school systems to pay farmers to provide healthy food, produced locally, sustainably and humanely, to be served to schoolchildren.
While $660 million (or $220 million a year) may sound like a lot to us average folks, it doesn't even amount to a rounding error in the $2 trillion that this administration says it plans to cut in the name of "government efficiency."
I quit my previous career as a political journalist 14 years ago and re-engage reluctantly, but I have no choice when so many good people are being victimized for doing good things. Believe me, I know how political echo chambers work, and many people are being bamboozled that the programs being cut are some crazy hippie shit.
This Local Food Forum article has a link to the short but powerful reel from the Ager family, along with background on their farm and an action alert from the National Farm to School Network.
Farm Aid Highlights Illinois Farmer Impacted by Federal Funding Freeze
Learn About Chicago Region Farmer John Bartman
The Farm Aid non-profit has been pursuing and promoting the interests of family farmers across the United States for 40 years.
And the organization is rallying support and calling for action to reverse federal cuts and freezes to valuable farm programs — in a number of cases refusing to meet contractual obligations to reimburse farmers for expenses they have undertaken to meet those programs' goals.
With permission from Farm Aid, Local Food Forum is beginning to re-publish their profiles of farmers who are being unfairly penalized for doing the right thing. The first profile is of John Bartman of Bartman Family Farm, a 900-acre regenerative vegetable and grain farm in Marengo, Illinois (about 60 miles northwest of Chicago).
This Local Food Forum article also includes links to longer piece with multiple profilespublished on the Farm Aid website,along with a link to the recording of an Illinois House Agriculture Committee at which John Bartman testified.
Bob’s World, and Welcome to It
Ending on a happier note. Each March, our apartment perch above Chicago’s Belmont Harbor provides one of the surest signs up of spring: The sailboat training lessons are on.
Now just bring on some warmer weather…