Proud to be Industrial
Summer 2006
Few farmers are comfortable being labeled
“industrial”. The word fairly drips contempt and calls to mind images of bleak
desolation (did you picture a smokestack?). But in the faces of my farm
visitors, I have seen the truth. The jolting difference between the farm they
see and the farm they expected was troubling. “It looks so…industrial”, one
visitor finally blurted.
Yes, it does. And for lack of a better description,
I’m OK with it. Heck – “industry” is a
synonym for hard work, diligence and
productiveness. Sounds like me. (Some of the time.)
Weird, isn’t it?
A community close to me just lost out in a competition for a new car
assembly plant and thousands of good paying industrial
jobs. The disappointment was keen. To even hint, however that farming in these
parts has become an industry borders on the apocalyptic.
The reasons, I believe are woven deep in our
culture. The agrarian ideal I explored earlier (March 2006) has been the
promotional cover story for farm policy despite the fact it has been frozen in
time since about 1945. Producers automatically disguise themselves as agrarians
for a simple reason – it qualifies us for “empathy payments”.
But we aren’t quaint subsistence peasantry. Many of
us simply avoid thinking too much about what GPS, HTA’s, and LDP’s imply about
the level of technical and economic sophistication we actually employ.
We also have abdicated the heavy pondering of whether
agriculture as we really, really practice it is less moral than the image we
offer. By failing to articulate a
justification of our actions we allow the populist condemnation of modern
farming to stand unchallenged, and our own doubts to multiply.
Time’s
up on that shrug-off. Industrial agriculture is a rational, efficient
and ethical response to the need for “growable” goods. The technology used is
morally inert – the way it is employed and the consequences should be the
standard by which it is judged.
The agrarian model is self-centered, although
portrayed as deeply intertwined with the “natural” world. Self-sufficiency in a
tight community may actually be a benign cover for “It’s all about me and
mine”. This business model fails the test of arithmetic. Agrarians never point
out how their way of life could be extended to millions, nor do they seem to
care. The idea that 300 million people in the US alone could be fed by farmer
markets is laughable. Therein lays another subtext: agrarians border on being “anti-people”
– or at least “anti-more-people”.
Agrarians are leery of those who can work in
larger-than-medieval groups. The basic techniques of industrialism –
specialization, organization, centralization – are often portrayed as demeaning,
even when the world has found huge payoffs for such cooperative effort. And don’t bring up technology! Simple, they
say, is a virtue. Fair enough, but then
to be complex and good is a greater achievement, and worth applauding.
An alternative view is industrialization is the
evolution of artisanal work through technology and people skills. Industrialists may be despised, in short,
because they can play well with others unlike themselves, as well as learn
outside their discipline.
Fool
me once. The inference that industrial agriculture is
inherently harmful also conveniently overlooks one obvious rebuttal: how does
such a bad practice continue so long in free societies? Have we finally found a way to fool all of
the people all of the time?
Our industrial system ensures such criticisms are heard
and addressed. Industrialism is far from perfect, but it rewards innovation,
enabling rapid answers. More importantly, industrial agriculture is scrutinized
and regulated - from OSHA to EEOC – unlike small farms with blanket
exemptions. Guess which segment will
have fewer child fatalities, for example.
As our food industry progresses with industrial efficiencies,
it is ironic that agrarian agriculture is a one beneficiary. The enormous wealth
made possible by industrial methods makes small and/or organic farms catering
to agrarian beliefs possible, and more importantly, profitably countercultural.
If there were no Walmarts, in other words, there would be no Whole Foods.
I am an industrial farmer. I am proud to be part of
a responsible team that provides food and more to the world. I welcome agrarians
to provide their unique contributions and will abide by the decisions of the
marketplace on our differences. But I will no longer stand mute as my work and
values are disparaged simply to get an LDP.
