By Siena Chrisman, Programs Communications Manager
Last month, I went to Omaha, Nebraska, for the summer meeting of the National Family Farm Coalition, a longtime WhyHunger partner. NFFC members came from as close as Iowa and as far as Mississippi and coastal Massachusetts, in the middle of one of the worst droughts in living memory. Most brought stories of how the drought was affecting them — dairy farmers, especially, are hard hit as their pastures are drying up and they have to buy feed for cattle in a way they wouldn’t usually do until the winter. The question of how they will continue to afford to buy feed through until next spring hung in the air, frighteningly unanswered. (Our partner and NFFC member, Family Farm Defenders, is raising funds for affected farmers here.) The meeting, naturally, focused largely on the drought and possible policy responses, as well as the ongoing Food and Farm Bill negotiations, and several developing campaigns against Big Food’s excessive control over our food system.
Enjoy this glimpse of the dinner we enjoyed at Branched Oak Farm — and stay tuned for more on these upcoming campaigns, and how you can help struggling farmers!
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- Close-up of the drought: by the end of July, corn should be over 6 feet tall and lush green; this was short and dry.
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- Small-scale, intensive farming is faring a little better, as evidenced at the Omaha Farmers’ Market.
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- Fruit, vegetable and flower farming is flourishing around Omaha; the Saturday market took over a full city block and a parking lot, and featured music and delicious breakfast burritos!
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- Doug Dittman, our host for dinner at Branched Oak Farm, a sustainably-managed 230 acre dairy farm near Lincoln – with the next generation.
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- John Kinsman: Wisconsin dairy farmer, President of Family Farm Defenders, and longtime activist for food sovereignty. A WhyHunger hero.
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- Ben Burkett, Director of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives and President of National Family Farm Coalition, with Anthony Pahnke of Family Farm Defenders.
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- In the last several years, NFFC has also reflected the concerns of fishers. Shannon Eldredge, from a Cape Cod fishing family, represented the North Atlantic Marine Alliance.
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- Darnella Winston, of the MS Association of Cooperatives, with Dena Hoff, Montana farmer and North American Representative of La Via Campesina. Darnella was key inthe development of a new farm to school program by the Delta Fresh Foods Initiative.
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- William Powers, of the NE Sustainable Agriculture Society, coordinated the farm dinner – and his work supports sustainable farmers around the state.
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- Dairy farmer John Kinsman and corn farmer George Naylor check out Branched Oak’s dairy, with cheesemaker Krista Dittman.
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- Cheese aging in the Branched Oak Farm’s cheese cave. (It was delicious!)
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- Some of the offerings in the farm store fridge. We bought several pints of ice cream to round out our meal.
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- Host Doug Dittman with Wisconsin dairy farmer Joel Greeno, in the milking room.
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- Free-ranging chickens have the run of the farm. They enjoyed the rinds of the watermelon the MS contingent had brought as much of the rest of us enjoyed the fruit.
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- Farmer Margo McMillan of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center has a tour of the pasture with Doug Dittman.
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- Work boots at the ready, in case there is ever enough rain to make mud.
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- There were discussions of drought, dairy policy, and disaster relief as we headed back to our cars after dinner.
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- George Naylor, Iowa corn and soybean farmer, and past president of National Family Farm Coalition, was interested in the hilly soybean field, and how the gullies running through it would make plowing and planting difficult.
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- Moonrise over Nebraska.
