Why are family farms in decline?
Public policy over several decades has promoted the industrialization of U.S. agriculture, large-scale farms, and the corporate control of our food system. A few corporations control energy, fertilizers, seeds, livestock and the distribution of food products. Domestic farm policy sets prices according to the interests of multinational agribusiness corporations, not family farmers. International trade agreements like NAFTA create unfair and unstable markets for small and independent producers. Factory farms and an industrial system of agriculture force farmers out of business and off the land. Meanwhile, our water, soils and air are polluted by industrial and chemical farming.
