The economic crisis of the 80s wiped out hundreds of farms that never came back. During the last administration tariff war, U.S. farmers lost billions in contracts that took years to build.

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, farmers are pleased with Biden’s infrastructure plan because millions of roadway miles, and railways are needed to get their products to market. In 2022 he met with farmers and ranchers and independent processors to create and expand more independent processing plants. Since the 80s there are only four meat packing companies that control the meat market in the U.S. Due to lack of competition hundreds of cattle ranchers went out of business.

American farmers have fallen behind. Politics has a way of changing policies. Since 1995 most of the billions of U.S. farm subsidies went to large agribusinesses. The original intent of the 1933 farm subsidies was to help low income farms and rural development. And, take notice, China is buying up U.S. farmland.

In Pennsylvania 97% of farms are family owned and now, 1% of farmers are people of color. In 2019 Gov. Wolf signed the first, a historic dedicated farm bill with millions in the budget, which is the only one in the nation for a safety net for farmers.

Gov. Shapiro will continue in his footsteps. His 2023-24 budget makes critical investments for Pennsylvania agriculture, and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau folks are very happy about it.

In Pennsylvania food insecurity is a daily part of life. Hunger is a symptom of the greater issue of poverty that occurs in rural and urban areas. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture helps low-income access nutritious food. They manage food funding in many areas, such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program, National School Lunch Program, work with regional food banks, over 800 school establishments, and around 3,000 local food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters.

Please support our farmers and look for the “PA Preferred” label which means it was grown locally and processed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Debra Becker

Effort