America’s food supply system is broken. Here’s how we can fix it (opinion)
CNNEditor’s Note: A version of this commentary originally published in April. CNN — I first met Scott Blubaugh, the president of the Oklahoma Farmers Union, last year when I was filming an episode on family farms for “United Shades of America.” There’s a lot of talk in this country of farmers as the backbone of America, and we were trying to separate the facts from the pickup truck commercial. This allows the processors and the corporate farms to maximize their profits, while independent family farms like Scott’s struggle. WKB: We think of a family farm as, ‘A farmer grows carrots, and then they take their carrots to the supermarket, and the supermarket sells them.’ Most of us aren’t thinking about a food processing plant – and how that company treats its workers and the farmers they’re working with – as being the key part that really affects our ability to get food. I get calls every single day from ranchers in our state who tell me they’re losing $300 to $400 a head on every that they sell right now.