Living in the Pacific Northwest, I hadn't thought at all about tobacco farms or even less about tobacco farmers. I don't smoke and don't advocate it. This statement is one side of the argument that pushes tobacco farms into extinction. But on the other hand, tobacco farmers pay the bills with their crop. Can the tobacco farmers learn another crop or even another trade that would put food on the table and their kids through college??? My answer is, "I sure hope that that becomes the trend." I LOVE the quote on p. 75: "If people out in the world were irate about the human damage of tobacco, why wouldn't they care enough -and pay enough-to cover the costs of growing vegetables? I can date from that moment my awareness of how badly our food production system is deranged, and how direly it is stacked against the farmer."
Please support your local farmer's markets this season. It may cost a bit more in your grocery budget but it is WAY worth it in taste and health and supporting a local agriculture! Smaller farms are economically better but have a hard times making ends meet because they are both grower and marketer. They just need MORE customers. That's me and you!
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I love your post! So very true. That chapter changed the way I viewed tobacco farmers, the small ones, anyway. Growing up with a dad who smoked two to three packs a day (he smoked for over forty years) I have no love for the tobacco industry. Yet, I do see the connection of them needing to find another way to make their living and buying locally...good food for thought! Thanks, Jen!
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