Supporting American Farmers this Holiday Season
Capt. Sully Sullenberger
Keynote Speaker | Safety Expert | Author | Pilot | Former U.S. Ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization
Some of us may know of the plight of the American farmer, but we all should realize that the hardships they and their families are going through today are as great as they’ve ever been. They are facing a tsunami of factors affecting not only their livelihood, but their physical and mental well-being. Climate change, tariffs and trade wars, market forces – all beyond their control – are making the situation feel unsustainable for many. They are facing insurmountable debt, and many are at risk of losing land that has been in their families for decades or even a century or more.
I understand and appreciate the gravity of the farming crisis. My maternal grandfather was a farmer. Farming is fundamentally essential to American society. We need American farmers to produce the food we all depend on. Farming has always been difficult, with only the hardiest among us up to the task. But the enormous challenges farmers are facing today are driving some of them to suicide at twice the rate of American military veterans. My family has also been touched in this regard, when my father died by suicide in 1995. I see the tragedy and the devastation these farming families are dealing with, and I understand the lifelong effects suicide has on the surviving family members.
This holiday season Lorrie and I will be thinking of the people who do the back-breaking work of farming – including many hard-working immigrants – all working to provide us everyday Americans with the food that will be on our holiday tables. We’ve made a donation to Farm Aid and will continue to do what we can to support American farm families. https://www.farmaid.org/
Former Sr. Radiological Control Technician turned OTR truck driver
5 年Having grown up in rural Pennsylvania, I spent my summer school vacations working on a local farm. We picked cabbage plants in the morning and replanted them in other fields. In the fall we would harvest the mature heads of cabbage for their shipment to Del Monte. In between came the bailing of hay, fence maintenance and more. Very hard work. I’m not sure how many youngsters could handle this type of work and appreciate it these days..The farming community deserves a great deal of thanks.?
AP Chemistry/ AP Biology/ Physics Teacher at Enid High School at Enid Public Schools
5 年You hit the nail on the head. I am the daughter of a wheat and beef farmer in northwestern Oklahoma. I experienced the struggles first hand growing up and working on the farm. If my brother hadn’t majored in animal science at OSU and than returned to help our parents farm, they would have struggled a lot more than they did. My dad is a fourth generation Oklahoma farmer.
Retired and open to "gig" opportunities
5 年The concern about farming should go hand-in-hand with protecting our pollinators.? Bee Colony Colapse Disorder which was brought to light some 10 years ago, pesticides are a concern, and now giant hornets in Washington State that attack bees.?? https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/23/us/asian-giant-hornet-washington-state-scn-trnd/index.html
Semi-Retired, if there really is such a thing
5 年Although I'm not a farmer myself, I live in Iowa and am surrounded by them. Many of my friends and most of my neighbors are farmers. Thank you for raising the awareness of their situation.