Back to the Land and Why

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This condition is not the fault of stupid uneducated people, but of stupid educated people. We have the potential for an abundance of clean air, clear water, and wholesome food and we lack these things because of an urban, materialistic philosophy that has ignored nature's laws.

The bright spot in this picture is that we weren't forced into this condition and don't have to remain in it. It's too late to dream of going back to the lifestyle of the American Indians but it's not too late to start using common sense and to rediscover the simple, immutable laws of nature. I thank God that there are people like those behind MOTHER to help our millions of city born young get back to the land.

It makes no sense for young people to take that course, however, unless they understand what has driven 50 million rural families off the land since 1922 (the year I started farming).

To see why this has happened you must know that there have been two groups of people in American agriculture: those that farmed the land and those that farmed the farmer. While city businesses operated on a cost plus basis, the tiller of the soil was educated to allow the buyer of his products to set the price for those products. General Motors, the largest enterprise in the world, couldn't stay solvent three months using agricultural economics!

This system did give the city people cheap food, but time finally ran out. Ten years ago, according to the USDA, there were 5,700,000 farmers left in this country. In 1973 the department counted 2,700,000 and by the end of 1974 only 1,800,000 remained.

Meanwhile, the quality of the food we eat has deteriorated because the farmer has been educated to produce raw materials which the corporate food chains then process and treat with chemicals and preservatives (not to protect our health, but to prolong shelf life).

There is, however, no law in America to prevent you from growing your own food the pure, natural kind everyone should be eating. The amount you can produce is limited, not by the area of land you have at your disposal, but only by your ability to work with and understand the laws of nature. (Some areas, of course, are better qualified to raise certain kinds of crops. Years ago each region was more or less noted for a specific product. Today we have a standard low grade of food all over. The same principle holds for individuals: People and crops do best when they like each other.)

Moreover, there's nothing to stop you from raising the same products for sale to others. In fact given some 200,000,000 people in this country, with only 1,800,000 farmers left and 700,000 of them producing over half the total output the intelligent grower of quality food has the greatest opportunity in America today. I myself got "too soon old and too late smart", but my experience may still be instructive.

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