Deprerssion...now and then

[Uben]

It'll be different this time....probably worse. My grandparents survived the depression by living off their land. Huge garden, a few cattle, chickens, and a good water well. As a child, everything we ate came from the farm.....all wholesome good food. Yes, it's hard work, but it keeps you fit and fed!

The family farm has all but disappeared this time around for most folks....long sold off for lack of desire to work the fields and the lure of the city life.

[ixion]

1. we lost our farm in the Reagan Recession of '82

I've always been very sad about that. I wish I'd been older at that time so I could have helped to save it. I was still in HS at the time.

I've got a few acres now, but it's not prime farmland, for sure.

[Kansas Wyatt]

2. 'family farm.... lack of desire' What?

So you're blaming the offspring, for all the family farms being forced by the government to get out or go corporate?

Well guess what... The same policies that the Corporate Government ruined family farms with, moved into the small towns, and swept right on into major cities. All those that were forced off family farms, were outsourced and downsized in the cities they had to move to, just to earn a living. I suppose you think they lack the desire and only want to party all the time in the city too?

[Javaman]

5. wow, that was the fastest 0 to 60 reply ever. nt

[prairierose]

3. Most people do not realize that the family farm is mostly gone...

because of the same govt policies that have led to so many jobs going offshore. So many people do not pay attention to farm policy because they think it has no effect on them. When I was still farming, I used to joke that most Americans do not know where their food comes from because they think it comes from the grocery store. Today, there is even less chance that you have any idea where your food comes from because there is no country of origin labeling required. The US used to export more food than any other country in the world. It was the one area where we consistently exported and for years it kept the balance of payments in balance.

Then the corporatization of agriculture began. It came along to work with the industrialization of agriculture. Add in the lobbyists and the revolving doors in DC along with decisions to support cporporate ag rather than family farms and today, there are few family farms left. The same 28 years that have seen so many jobs leave, have seen most family farms disappear unless they have consolidated and incorporated.

I used to tell people that once this consolidation was complete that people would begin to find out what food really costs and we have come to that place.

Plant a garden and begin to grow some of your own food. Check to see if there are any CSA (community supported agriculture) farms in your area. Shop at your local farmer's market.

[Javaman]

6. And backyard chickens. very easy and a lot of fun. :) nt

[Warpy]

4. One grandmother lived three blocks from City Hall

and turned the back yard into an intensive garden complete with chicken coop. That supplemented my grandfather's income as superintendent of schools and music teacher.

I live in an inner city, largely Mexican area and there are a lot of backyard chickens, backyard auto shops, and other part time enterprises. Times have always been hard in this part of town.

My other grandmother didn't have talents that extended to gardening. She and my mother lived on oatmeal, but they kept their house and didn't have to take in boarders thanks to her talents for bookkeeping and sewing.

City slicker or country mouse, we all have talents that we can barter with our neighbors if we're willing to, talents that will help us survive.

The model of the self sufficient yeoman farmer doesn't work for everybody, and ASSuming it's the only way to survive is foolish beyond belief.

Nothing is sillier than nostalgia for a time none of us experienced and assuming that it was the only way to cope with difficult economic conditions.