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| Written by Elizabette Guecamburu / Community Columnist | |
| Wednesday, 10 October 2007 | |
 Elizabette Guecamburu After reading Earl Hiatt’s Sept. 29 column that blasted the recent federal farm bill as another way to balloon the “welfare state,” I find myself wishing to respond. Here’s hoping my plague vaccination is still up to date. With all due respect to Mr. Hiatt, I must disagree with his assessment and offer my own views on the matter. I will point out at the outset that my family has been involved in dairy farming since we moved to Patterson in 1910. There are tens of thousands of families all across this country — just like mine — that operate small farms. These farms employ countless workers and, in addition, give business to processing plants, supply retailers and other specialized technicians. The impact of just one farm can ripple out into the community, providing economic benefits far beyond the borders of the farm itself. With costs of production far outpacing increases in price, many farms can’t stay in business. Government subsidies, like the farm bill, help to fill the gap so family farms don’t go under, corporate farms don’t take their business overseas and American families don’t have to strain their budgets to buy a gallon of milk. If farm subsidies didn’t exist, thousands of farms across this nation wouldn’t exist at all. With the loss of those farms, jobs would vanish, processing plants would have nothing to process and farm supply companies would lose their customers. Ultimately, employees of all these affiliated businesses could lose their jobs — potentially thrusting them upon already-overwhelmed welfare and unemployment rolls. In the U.S., we have already abandoned one major cornerstone of our economy — industry. By letting American industry move overseas, we have taken away millions of middle-class American jobs — not to mention that we’ve surrendered American standards of quality. For example, we can’t control how goods are produced in China; local authorities make sure manufacturing practices are appropriate. We are already seeing the implications of this with recent Chinese product defects and safety violations. How can be we certain that a beleaguered Chinese inspector isn’t forced by corporate bullies to sacrifice standards for the company’s bottom line? And, from 6,000 miles away, what are we supposed to do about it? Do we want this to happen to agriculture? Do we want to eat food that was produced thousands of miles away in conditions that we can’t be sure are even safe? Do we want more jobs lost? The American middle class is already shrinking at an alarming rate — directly correlating to American industry’s shift overseas. If American farms aren’t able to stay in business, more jobs will be lost — more hard-working people, just like those hurt by the loss of industry, will be thrust down the income ladder, closer to the rungs of poverty. And who will pick up those folks when they fall? It is important not to forget that any of us could quickly find ourselves in their position. A society is measured by how it treats the needy among its ranks. How will our society be measured? Elizabette Guecamburu, 25, is a writer and native Patterson resident. She accepts e-mails at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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