So, why are things like this happening? Why is this the food status-quo? We can do so much better people! I just don't understand what is going on when I read things like this. How does it make any sense that farmers are treated so terribly when they provide one of the most essential services to all of humanity?
Farming, like many other labor jobs and childcare jobs (just to give a few examples) is really, really difficult work. I am fortunate because I farm and garden in environments where I am not face to face with toxic chemicals, sexual harassment, working without health insurance or adequate pay, etc. etc. Few farmers around the globe would say the same, and that is so absurd because they are the people who harvest the food from the land to feed us, and they are completely disrespected.
This is my plea... please take a moment and consider every single thing put into your mouth today... coffee, bread, cereal, sugar, bananas, vegetables... gigantic machines and a whole lot of chemicals are involved too, but these things have to grow somewhere and someone has to do it. Real people are involved in food production.
Please, please, do whatever you can to support farms that treat their workers and their land well. Please stop giving your money to fast-food corporate giants who could give two shits about where their food comes from and the working conditions involved. Please give your money to cooks, chefs, and restaurants who support local farms and local farmers. And if you have children or friends or family, consider taking them to visit a factory in which any kind of food production takes place -- a factory farm, a meat-processing factory -- take a moment to see for yourself, because these are really terrible ways to produce food.
We can do better people!
I want to live in a world where farmers are adequately compensated for their work, where they can enjoy the work they do, where they are taken care of, where they are not exposed to heinous toxins, where they farm in a way that is ecologically sound, which is not the way these billions of tomatoes are being produced in Florida.
Here's an idea about tomatoes. If you really want to eat tomatoes: go to a local nursery, buy a tomato plant, stick it in the ground somewhere with a lot of sun and water it three times a week. It will grow and then you can enjoy delicious tomatoes. While eating these juicy, sweet treats remember there is only a small window when tomatoes actually grow (the growing season) and so, you must either can or freeze some of your extra tomatoes to have during the off-season, or you could go without eating tomatoes when it doesn't make sense for them to grow. That is just the way it works.
If you are feeling really brave -- consider other actions you can take to support farmers, and dismantle or re-direct the current food system. There are a lot of options... Need some ideas? Let me know.
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