Your Food Security Is Not Partisan: The Crisis Facing American Farms
And the choice we have to fight against it
As stories break about hardships Americans are facing as a direct result of Trump’s presidency, I hear news stations airing interviews of people who voted for him that are suffering, or regretting their choice for some reason.
The park ranger who wanted fertility treatment and then got fired from her job and can’t afford anything. The first generation Mexican American who got arrested by ICE. The farmer who lost his market and hemorrhages money as relief aid is shut down.
As someone who was disgusted and outraged by Trump’s campaign for presidency, it is hard for me to understand those who are just now turning against him—when it personally hits home for them. It’s a difficult leap to make to have sympathy for those who seemed to be fine with other people’s hardships, if it benefited them. And it’s a big challenge to trust that if we help those people up, they won’t get right back to shoving others down.
But then again, there is a part of me that yearns to connect with them. A part of me that knows that our wellness is so intricately tied as Americans that I need them on my team.
There is no example that brings this out more for me right now than our situation with American agriculture.
Food systems affect all of our well being:
Right now, every person touching the food industry is challenged to adapt to a volatile market and unpredictable working conditions. It’s helpful to pause and remember that before jumping to a judgement about what is going on in the USDA and with our trade wars.
Though some feel it more than others, we are all feeling these changes in our world.
The big grocery stores swallowing tariff costs and the local markets trying to retain customers and support producers. The big chain restaurants and the local coffee shop down the street. The factory cattle ranch, the little organic family farm, and the innovative coop that supports first generation and minority entrepreneurs.
And all of us consumers and our farmworkers at the bottom of the food chain.
To say smugly that Trump-supporting farmers and ranchers are getting what they voted for is not only a little masochistic, it’s also a vastly incomplete thought.
Farmers are not a monolith
Our American food systems have always been far from perfect.
We’re fighting old school mentalities of how to care for the soil and water. We’re bogged down by destructive monopolies, absentee landowners, and biased agriculture subsidies. And we’re always debating how to best respond to unexpected changes in the environment, like animal diseases and crop damage.
But for over half a century now, it has been gradually improving with the incorporation of progressively valid, science-based data and hard-fought activism.
While the politics of agriculture in the US is influenced by powerful lobby groups that block conservation efforts and greedy corporations that are slow to work towards the common good, there are also loads of people diligently challenging the system to become healthier and more sustainable. Many farm collectives and farm worker unions have fought tooth and nail for changes in our policies that are just as much (if not more) out the window as all the awful, short-sighted stuff.
We’re becoming less safe, because it’s all shutting down. It’s all losing support.
Here’s a sample of how this is true:
Some, but not all of the threats they face right now are:
Funds that uphold our farms are frozen during the shutdown. These include reimbursement for federal conservation programs, organic farming, and farm safety net funding that provides loans to help farmers recover from natural disasters.
Markets that rely on trading partners are floundering with Trump’s tariffs. While Trump plays around with trade wars, farmers are struggling to sell their crops overseas. And our international buyers are establishing new trade relationships with competing countries, so there is uncertainty whether we’ll ever get back to normal demand for our products. Farmers are unsure if they can afford to stay in business, and once their expertise and land management is gone, it’s hard to get back. The soybean industry is being hit especially hard.
Vital farm workers are lost as a result of Trump’s policies. ICE is decimating our farming workforce with arrests, deportations, and basic fear tactics. Also, funding for programs that support new and young farmers have been stalled and cut, putting the future of the industry in limbo.
Confusing regulation changes leave uncertainty about land care feasibility. Farming has been moving slowly towards more sustainable practices, and some farmers have taken a leap to take short term losses or expensive renovations that will pay off in the long term. Now, the government is trying to force a sharp u-turn, halting payments to “Democrat” programs that help farmers with those transitions. These changes will only reduce our farms’ environmental sustainability and long-term production capacity.
Reduced USDA support staff after cuts and deferred retirement package (DRP) resignations leaves a noticeable void. Staff that distributes grants, trains farmers, and provide technical resources for farmers and their communities are retired, cut, and furloughed. This leaves a lot of people who have come to depend upon their services in a lurch.
So much more. Check the notes at the bottom for more details. The reach of this crisis is astounding.
Ultimately, we’re talking about the food available to us at any level. Is it safe, is it accessible, is it affordable? Right now, those closest to the food are letting us know that things are not okay.
Our fight for healthy, affordable food is for everyone
Underlying the sharp disagreement between different stakeholders in our food system, I see a bit of possibility in today’s conflicts. Because like in so many circumstances, food brings people together.
We come to the table, we share a meal, we feel something.
Whether or not individuals speaking for the agricultural industry seem to politically align with us, we’re all in the same situation right now. Trump is screwing things up for everyone. So many are hungering, literally for physical nourishment and socially for something safe and caring.
And the GOP is blatantly refusing to give any comfort, to bring anything to the table.
I believe the rest of us can do better. We can show compassion, we can connect, and we can show that we care about our fellow countryman.
If we can unite over this one big thing that touches us all, maybe it will lead to more cooperation on other issues. Maybe it will help us all see one another as a little more human. A little less one dimensional.
I don’t expect every Trump loyalist who works in the food industry to suddenly do an about face and abandon their beliefs. But I do see this moment of hardship as a way to challenge ideas about small government, big business, and mythic rural isolationism.
From farmers and farm workers to small business owners and customers, our lives are hopelessly intertwined. And thank goodness. We have so many compatriots. We can, if we challenge ourselves now, fight this battle for justice together.
With love and hope for the future,
Stephanie
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Read more:
challenges
https://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/how-the-government-shutdown-is-impacting-farmers/
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5566391-trade-war-impacts-farmers/
I appreciate your comments as a city raised Republican, now Democrat living in rural ruby red Idaho. In my experience, many of the farmers and ranchers in my area are honest people that would help out a neighbor, but since this area is primarily white I can't vouch for how much they would be willing to support the brown and black people who work the hard and dirty labor intensive jobs white people won't do anymore. I am seeing fewer "This is Trump Country" signs lately but they might resurface for the next elections.
The Democratic party lost many of these people over decades of condescending messaging (remember "fly over country" that disparaged the heartland voters?) and becoming known as the coastal elites with their broad based support of fringe issues like defund the police and gay rights issues that were largely misunderstood as they were portrayed on Fox News which is still the go to TV station in rural country. I was screaming at the news during the 2024 elections because the dems were so weak in their messaging and seemed to pound on abortion rights to the exclusion of most everything else. In my experience, most rural people are socially conservative and many vote as their church, often Mormon in my area, dictate to them. Yes, I care about abortion rights but I also care about providing a living wage with a sound national economy, and climate change, helping out small farmers and ranchers so they can make environmentally positive changes, and so many other vital issues that were never brought up in the national news coverage.
Most people are reportedly loath to change their politics as it has become their personal identity so we will have to see how this continues to play out.
This reader with farm family roots in Ohio and Pennsylvania approves this message.