Family Farmers vs. Corporate America

Standing in the produce isle

skin cool from the overall chill

of the supermarket

Staring

at the little yellow placard

stating the price of a single clump of carrots – 4 dollars

Ears ringing, vision narrowing, breath gasping, sadness all

consuming

You remember your roots:

4 men stand to make a difference

& instead of taking their cultivators, harrows, &

combines

to battle Corporate America

They stand with guitars & songs in their hearts

Trying – vowing – to make a difference

Nelson Young Mellencamp Cash

Later joining the fight:

Dave Matthews

&

Margo Price

Fighting the good fight for nearly 40 years

80

million dollars raised

Building a vibrant, farm family-centered system of agriculture

in America.

Brows furrowed in thought

Staring at the brand name

Grimmway – one of the

global produce leaders

Only a handful of corporations – just

like Grimmway –

control our food from farm to fork

With the u n b r i d l e d POWER they possess,

it grants them increasing political influence

o v e r

———————————

the rules

that govern our food systems

They p d

u o

s w

h n

prices paid to family farmers

consequently driving them out of business

Fields turn to dust, to ash, returning to the Earth

Only to be dug up and replaced

by a poisoned chemical wasteland

Of industrial building complexes,

sprinkling the land with their nitrous

oxides and heavy metals

Until a smog carrying the stench of death hovers

over the land

Seeping into every pore,

ravaging the human body,

and bringing despair unto

Mother Earth herself as she

weeps

Glaring at the produce like it ran over your cat

You walk out of the supermarket – empty handed

Taking a deep, crisp breath

A memory resurfaces from Farm Aid 2018

When Neil Young made you promise

to shop at your local farmer’s market

Pivoting right

Shoes squeaking on wet pavement

The smell of rain freshly fallen and oxygen

rich dirt

Ensconcing itself in my very being

that is exactly what I choose to do

As I am welcomed into the first booth

with open arms and warm smiles