Jump to content

Are American Farmers Underappreciated?


SullyMcGully
 Share

Recommended Posts

So, something I've been thinking about lately is the way typical Americans view farmers. I've begun to notice that the entertainment industry has a stereotype for farmers and other country dwellers, where they tend to be seen them as poorly-educated, simple-minded folks with an old-fashioned mindset who can't get up with the times. It's almost as if people think that getting your hands dirty and working with the land are things that civilization has put behind itself, which makes little sense when faced by the reality that food - a commodity essential to life - is the end result of this labor, and cannot be produced any other way.

It just annoys me that we expect the farmers, who are essential to our existence as a species, to work for small wages and earn little public recognition while we heap fame and fortune on actors, musicians, and computer programmers who provide us with unnecessary comfort and leisure. Does anybody else think this is a real problem, or is it just me?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's really no surprise farmers are so forgotten by the unwashed masses nowadays. Ever since technology has been introduced, things like bugs, blights, and poor soil have basically disappeared from farming, so readily available food has been taken for granted. I think they don't get recognized because their occupation is inherently modest, and they like it that way. They "choose to do the other things not because it is easy, but because it is hard." to quote JFK. You might see it as a problem because it represents the bigger picture of urban>rural in regards to American society. I appreciate that farmers can have difficult times even when innovation diminishes the problems they have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This isn't just an american problem.  It's a worldwide problem where Farmers are mostly underappreciated all over the world.

Not to mention the amount of labour causes a lot of them to have to look after their crops, livestocks and general produces everyday that they have no time to enjoy the urban style of entertainment of TV Shows, Internet.  Many of them live in isolated regions and therefore aren't as well informed as most of the people in the cities of what is going on in the international level.  That's not to say that they are uneducated, if anything they just don't receive the same amount of information that most people in the city receive that allows them to make proper dynamic solutions. Which is why so many have very hard earned beliefs and rather stick with what currently works in their area.  This makes it difficult for them to be informed and understand the issues that are not within their regions.

Edited by kingddd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Programmers do many essential things in which almost all businesses couldn't operate if there was suddenly none. It seems weird to put them on the same level as entertainers.

Regardless, I kinda see that for occupations like teachers, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Under-appreciated in what aspect?

The few farmers I know are decently paid (certainly far more than I earn) so they're not always financially under-appreciated. Google says:

Quote

Farmers and ranchers earned a median annual income of nearly $61,000 in 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top 10 percent of earners in the field made about $107,000 a year, while the bottom 10 percent made less than $30,000.

Stereotyped, yes, although a lot of negative stereotypes run rampant in the entertainment industry (including for computer programmers). You do have a few glamourized examples; Ree Drummond's showcasing of her life on a farm springs to mind.

And it's just the way it's always been and always will be that certain professions are more famous than others; Tryhard gave the examples of teachers, which is a good one. How many famous teachers do you know? There are plenty of very necessary and essential jobs that earn little public recognition. And the majority of people - including in cities - live in pretty mediocre circumstances in the U.S. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Hylian Air Force said:

Ever since technology has been introduced, things like bugs, blights, and poor soil have basically disappeared from farming, so readily available food has been taken for granted.

That's not actually true.

17 minutes ago, Tryhard said:

Programmers do many essential things in which almost all businesses couldn't operate if there was suddenly none. It seems weird to put them on the same level as entertainers.

This, and also programmers aren't famous lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Refa said:

That's not actually true.

Are they the famine-inducing problems they used to be? Poor soil, I can see being a problem, but that is fixed by growing stuff that grows in it. Non-DDT pesticides are about as effective as DDT was without killing 90% of all the birds of prey the world over, and labs have started splicing crops to resist diseases. Sure, they haven't gone away, but science is actively working to make sure that day comes soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Tryhard said:

Programmers do many essential things in which almost all businesses couldn't operate if there was suddenly none. It seems weird to put them on the same level as entertainers.

Regardless, I kinda see that for occupations like teachers, too.

I think SullyMcGully's point is that 100+ years ago, there were no such things as programmers, and by now many programmers just make video games and other things that, while fun or needed for business, are not necessary for the survival of the species. However, farmers are necessary and have been for over 10 thousand years of human existence.

I do agree with SullyMcGully's point though. People are focusing too much on entertainment and taking food and farms for granted. Though, I don't know how this can be fixed or if it needs fixed. Like what Res said, farmers aren't that under-paid, and as Tryhard exampled, teachers aren't that appreciated, but are necessary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Hylian Air Force said:

Are they the famine-inducing problems they used to be? Poor soil, I can see being a problem, but that is fixed by growing stuff that grows in it. Non-DDT pesticides are about as effective as DDT was without killing 90% of all the birds of prey the world over, and labs have started splicing crops to resist diseases. Sure, they haven't gone away, but science is actively working to make sure that day comes soon.

The problem with soil is that the most profitable crop is corn, and continuously planting corn every season harms the soul (as opposed to spacing it out; not sure how to better explain this because I'm not particularly well versed in it).  Science is for sure minimizing these issues as best it can, yeah.

2 minutes ago, Rex Glacies said:

I think SullyMcGully's point is that 100+ years ago, there were no such things as programmers, and by now many programmers just make video games and other things that, while fun or needed for business, are not necessary for the survival of the species. However, farmers are necessary and have been for over 10 thousand years of human existence.

I do agree with SullyMcGully's point though. People are focusing too much on entertainment and taking food and farms for granted. Though, I don't know how this can be fixed or if it needs fixed. Like what Res said, farmers aren't that under-paid, and as Tryhard exampled, teachers aren't that appreciated, but are necessary.

Programmers are necessary though, at least in our modern culture.  Regardless, other people are not going to put things on a pedestal just because they're important to the survival of the species.  Humans can do more than just survive and procreate, after all.

Edited by Refa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Refa said:

The problem with soil is that the most profitable crop is corn, and continuously planting corn every season harms the soul (as opposed to spacing it out; not sure how to better explain this because I'm not particularly well versed in it).  Science is for sure minimizing these issues as best it can, yeah.

I understand the concept. That's why crop rotation is important. Sadly, most farmers on the equator don't understand the concept and keep purging the jungle. I bet hundreds of species have gone extinct in that area that we haven't even been able to identify because of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright, so I actually live and work on a farm (300 acres), and to clear up a few things:

4 hours ago, Tryhard said:

Programmers do many essential things in which almost all businesses couldn't operate if there was suddenly none. It seems weird to put them on the same level as entertainers.

Sorry. I was thinking more about video game developers when I said that, but I understand that programmers are important and often go unrecognized for their contributions. 

5 hours ago, Hylian Air Force said:

Ever since technology has been introduced, things like bugs, blights, and poor soil have basically disappeared from farming

Only if you grow GMO crops and spray your fields with pesticides and nitrogen fertilizer. If you are an organic farmer like me, bugs, blights, and poor soil are an ever-present worry.

4 hours ago, Res said:

Under-appreciated in what aspect?

The few farmers I know are decently paid (certainly far more than I earn) so they're not always financially under-appreciated. 

That's not counting in debt. Almost every farmer in my area owes a ton of money on tractors, barns, equipment, etc. To start a conventional farm, it takes 500,000-1,000,000 dollars, which you need debt to cough up. That's not even counting in upgrades, which can end up costing millions more.

 

5 hours ago, Tryhard said:

Regardless, I kinda see that for occupations like teachers, too.

I 100% agree that teachers are underappreciated. But at least you can meet them face-to-face on a fairly regular basis. Farmers are kind of hard to come across unless you live in the country. This helps explain how "Teacher's Rights" is a familiar rallying cry, but "Farmer's Rights" doesn't ring with a whole lot of people.

In summary, I just think that too many people expect their food to magically appear on grocery store shelves and don't actually consider the silent folks who made it possible. Fact of the matter is, farmers are dying. Literally. The average age of farmers is in the mid-fifties now, and it increases every year as the number of farmers decreases. While I don't think individual farmers want more attention, I do think that as a nation, we shouldn't forget about the fact that behind every food is a farmer, and that overlooking them and stereotyping them could do much harm to our position as a society. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What kind of recognition are you looking for, though?

I mean yes, people don't always acknowledge where their food is coming from. But neither do most people give thought to their clean water, sewage, garbage disposal, electricity, etc.

I see less of a rallying cry for teachers than I do farmers - the needs of rural citizens have been touted pretty frequently. Last summer, in California, a lot of the reporting on the drought concentrated on what that meant for Californian farmers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are. I mean, we'd all starve without them, and yet people seem to appreciate them less than professional football players, who are not nearly as useful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/8/2017 at 1:22 PM, Bandido Banderas said:

They are. I mean, we'd all starve without them, and yet people seem to appreciate them less than professional football players, who are not nearly as useful.

Let us be real; people appreciate every profession less than entertainers. This has little to do with just about anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Lord Raven said:

Let us be real; people appreciate every profession less than entertainers. This has little to do with just about anything.

This is what I meant.

I mean, sure, I can agree that U.S. farmers are underappreciated. But so are many, many other workers essential to daily living. I'd absolutely love to slash entertainers' salaries and to distribute some of their wealth to the poorer citizens. But the only way I can think of to feasibly do so is to help bring in a government that places higher taxes on high earners. I think the rich/poor divide in the U.S. is absolutely appalling, and it's only ever increasing, but it's not going to be fixed any time soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...