Big Farms Cause Big Problems
Rachel Savage
Ms Cogburn
English 1A
13, May, 2013
Paper #4 Big Farms Cause Big Problems California is a state known for its’ agriculture, and provides a good majority of the nations’ food. In the central valley, our rich soil, diverse biotic communities and eco-systems, provide an environment that allows a great variety of what our farmers can plant, however, many farmers do not utilize this ability. Instead farmers of big corporate farms are looking to make the most money possible, so they will only grow specialty crops which are subsidized by the government, and since only the farms growing specialty crops get subsidies, the ‘mom and pop’ farms begin to suffer. The big named agriculture corporate farms also support the governments’ decision to reroute river water, which would cause irreversible damage to the river and the local family farms that surround it. In addition, big corporate farms create an immense amount of pollution, and deposit large quantities of harmful pesticides into the air. Big agriculture corporate farms are wiping out small family farms with their subsidized crops, tainting the central valleys’ air by emitting vast amounts of pollution and pesticides and destroying California’s environment by influencing the government to reroute rivers. Subsidizing farms, that only produce specialty crops cause local ‘mom and pop’ farms to suffer. “Ninety percent of all subsidies go to just five crops. . . [t]wo thirds of all farm products. . . receive almost no subsidies [a]nd just 10 percent of recipients receive 75 percent of all subsidies”( Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers). As explained in the blog: Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers, farm subsidies were originally set up after the great depression in 1930s’, back when nearly 25 percent of the population lived on farms. “Today only 1 percent of the population live on farms”(Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers) and these farms are far
Ms Cogburn
English 1A
13, May, 2013
Paper #4 Big Farms Cause Big Problems California is a state known for its’ agriculture, and provides a good majority of the nations’ food. In the central valley, our rich soil, diverse biotic communities and eco-systems, provide an environment that allows a great variety of what our farmers can plant, however, many farmers do not utilize this ability. Instead farmers of big corporate farms are looking to make the most money possible, so they will only grow specialty crops which are subsidized by the government, and since only the farms growing specialty crops get subsidies, the ‘mom and pop’ farms begin to suffer. The big named agriculture corporate farms also support the governments’ decision to reroute river water, which would cause irreversible damage to the river and the local family farms that surround it. In addition, big corporate farms create an immense amount of pollution, and deposit large quantities of harmful pesticides into the air. Big agriculture corporate farms are wiping out small family farms with their subsidized crops, tainting the central valleys’ air by emitting vast amounts of pollution and pesticides and destroying California’s environment by influencing the government to reroute rivers. Subsidizing farms, that only produce specialty crops cause local ‘mom and pop’ farms to suffer. “Ninety percent of all subsidies go to just five crops. . . [t]wo thirds of all farm products. . . receive almost no subsidies [a]nd just 10 percent of recipients receive 75 percent of all subsidies”( Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers). As explained in the blog: Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers, farm subsidies were originally set up after the great depression in 1930s’, back when nearly 25 percent of the population lived on farms. “Today only 1 percent of the population live on farms”(Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers) and these farms are far
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