by Roland McShane

Created on: October 08, 2010

With most of the world's population now living in cities, it is increasingly important to support small farmers.  While commercial farms produce the majority of the food we eat, it is a benefit to all of us if small farmers not only survive, but thrive.  The question of how to best help small farmers around the world has two components.  The first component involves our personal decisions of what we eat and where we buy our food.  The second component involves decisions by governments.

If the saying, "you are what you eat," is true, then most of us would resemble some sort of transportation.  That is because our food is shipped in from places far removed from where we live and represents a significant cost component of our grocery bills.  Making a choice to purchase locally grown produce has multiple benefits.  From cutting greenhouse emissions to ensuring that what we eat is organically grown, purchasing locally grown produce is a positive choice.  It is the local small farmer who is most able to provide the best choices to keep our environment and our families healthy.  

Purchasing from local small farmers means that in planning meals, it is important to realize that tomatoes do not grow in the depths of winter!  Only with the advent of modern technology have we forgotten that local farms produce food according to the growing seasons.  The freshest peas are grown by small farmers in spring; best tasting tomatoes in summer; the sweetest grapes in autumn.  Commit to buying and eating according to the produce available in your area according to the season and the natural source for the produce is the local small farmer.  An excellent resource for seasonally appropriate recipes is Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert.  The personal decision to eat more locally produced food is a decision to support small farmers.

Government subsidies are defended by lawmakers and recipients as being good for small farmers.  However, the true impact of government subsidies is damaging to the long-term sustainability of small farms, especially small farms in other countries who are not eligible for the subsidies.  For example, when a United States farmer receives subsidies, they are able to sell their product at artificially low prices in foreign lands.  The small farmers in other countries are unable to compete with the artificially low prices and are driven out of business and many move into the city to find a job, increasing the stress of over population and poverty.  Supporting small farmers around the world can be helped by ending farming subsidies to large US farms.  For more information on the negative and disproportional impact of farming subsidies, see the Farm Subsidy Database.

The decision to help small farmers is first a personal decision to buy locally grown produce from small farmers.  It is also a decision to advocate for an end to imbalanced farm subsidies which are ultimately destructive to small farms.  Action in both of these areas is the best way to help local farmers.

Learn more about this author, Roland McShane.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.