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The strength of a nation is its ability to feed its population.
Without farmers, the United States, as we know it, can not exist.
Without family farmers to nurture the land, without family farmers to grow produce, and livestock, our food supply is
dependent on factory farm operations which are hard on land, hard on livestock and hard on your budget.
America has a long history of family-based agriculture. Farmers produce crops on Indian Reservations, in the fertile Black
Belt in Mississippi, and every where in between.
No matter what his ethnic background, today's family farmer is under pressure from federal farm policies that are biased
in favor of factory farm operations, to the rising cost of fuel and fertilizer.
The quality quality and nutrition value of what goes on your table for meals depends on the care taken by those who grow,
harvest and market food in the American food supply chain.
Now, more than ever, the nation must support family farmers. Our food supply is becoming overly dependent on foreign farmers,
lengthening the distance that food has to travel. This is becoming a national security issue, as fuel drives up the price
of food, fertilizer and farm chemicals.
If our nation is to survive, the family farm must be an integral part of our economy. Family farmers protect the land for
future generations, ensuring that the nation's agriculture remains strong and diverse.
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| Farm rights protest Washington, DC |
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| Farmers continue to march and protest USDA policies |
The economic disaster in America's farms.
According to one analysis: "The vast USDA bureaucracy, including the long dreaded Farm Service Agency
(FSA), has long been labeled a "good ole boys" network even by the mainstream media, with employees still working there whom
some black plaintiffs claimed discriminated against them...."
The livelihoods of thousands of black farmers are at risk.
The threat is real. The time is now. Donate and help us keep our heritage alive for future generations. Land is wealth.
Land is power. Land, power, wealth and heritage must not die with this generation.
Farmers, especally black, brown and woman owned farms are under siege. The federal government has documented cases of
fraud, theivery and forgery within the Farm Services Administration. But, when it comes down to the wire, many of our black
farmers lack the resources to fight back.
Despite
the latest Black Farmer Settlement, many say bureaucrats within the federal farm loan system continue to badger, belittle
and abuse them.
And, when they are able to get their issues in the press or in court, city people are often clueless as to what the issues
are.
For additional information on urban farming,the crisis American farmers face, and how you can help, follow the following
links:
http://www.blackfarmers.org
www.urbanfarm.org
www.factoryfarm.org
www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listagricultre.html
www.smallfarm.org/nesfi_library/virtual/riskybusiness.htm
www.thefamilyhomestead.com
www.muhammadfarms.com
www.dchieftain.com/news/39410-03-31-04.html
nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=4221
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Family farmers of all ethnic groups are being driven out of business by federal agriculture policies that are biased in favor
of corporate factory farms.
Tens of thousands of black, white, Hispanic and Native America farmers have lost their land due to hostile, and even illegal
actions on behalf of federal farm loan agencies.
Your food supply is at risk.
Mr Harry Young of Owensboro, KY died in 2010, a fter a long battle with the USDA. He lost his farm
in a possibly illegal government sale. Mr. Young was an African-American. Mrs. Melissa Seaver and her family lost her farm,
as did Mr. Young over a contested loan and a possible misuse of a Shared Appreciation Agreement. Mrs. Seaver is Native American.
Thousands of family farmers of all ethnic groups, from Maine to Texas and California, continue to lose farms that have been
in their families for centuries.
These family farmers have been taken advantage of. Mr. Harry Young's family continues their fight to regain
their farms. Many elderly, disbled, poor and veterans are victims of often racist, pro-industrial farm policies which have
driven hundreds of thousands of family farmers out of business in the last two generations.
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