Sunday, June 05, 2011

Commodities are most frequently and regularly subsidized. (click title of Wall Street commodity firm and the products they trade)

Oil, gas, agricultural goods such as crops and livestock and sugar plantations in Florida.


Stuff like that.  Other than Southern California I don't know of any farmers that employ union workers.

 


United Farm Workers fight dwindling membership in California (click here)

April 20, 2011
Gosia Wozniacka
A dozen farmworkers sat in a circle of plastic chairs in a modest living room, listening as a union organizer talked about a bill she said would allow people to organize without fear, rebuild the union and improve conditions in the fields.
The United Farm Workers of America drew national attention when workers led by Cesar Chavez inspired a boycott of table grapes in the 1960s and then forced vineyard owners to sign hundreds of contracts providing better pay and working conditions....

The union in southern California is vital to the well being of these workers.  Workers are exposed to all kinds of chemicals and harsh environment, so it is vital the union protect them, their income and the quality of life.  The children of these workers are also taken care of differently.  If it is decided for whatever reason it is that they are needed in the fields rather than in school, the public school system accommodates that need so the children don't leave school and still receive their education with age appropriate grade advancement.  It works.


...Cesar Chavez (click here) was one of the most important leaders of the 20th Century. His legacy of workers' rights, civil rights, environmental justice, equality for all, peace, non-violence, as well as children and women's rights deserves national recognition. He inspired millions of people across the country of all race and nationalities to engage in social and economic justice for farm workers. His life's work to empower the poor and disenfranchised is a model for all....


Most farm operations throughout the USA are rarely family farms and if they are they are highly dependent on sophisticated equipment costing incredible amounts of money in order to 'make ends meet' for the prices they receive for their products.  The people that farm do not do it for the money, they do it because they love it.  Seriously. 

You what I miss?

The USDA used to publish it.  It was an annual yearbook of the agricultural sector.  A yearbook.  It had all kinds of pictures and observations including that of county fairs and the culture and the people.  I haven't seen one in a very long time.  It was a great publication, libraries used to collect them and put them on their shelves. I don't know if the government simply does not do that anymore for the rest of us that like to appreciate the farm community of our country or if the family farm is such a rarity that there is nothing to put in the annual USDA yearbook. 
Most USA commodities are subsidized by the federal govenment and there is absolutely no reimbursement for wind fall profits when those commodities out perform any imagination.