How feudal are our farmers?
There's a question that haunts me when I'm lying in bed pondering what The Hands that Feed Us is really about: Are we at risk of reverting to feudalism?
What We're Learning
Why Food Insecurity isn't a Subset of Poverty
Money may be a possible solution for starvation, but no matter how hungry you are, you still can't eat it.
Capitalism doesn't invest in farms is because capitalism for farming is broken
The cost of land is a big reason why the capitalist is necessary in the first place. In business terms, land is a capital cost: It's a big, up-front cost that has to be paid out of the farm's profits over time, but it only needs to be purchased once.
What the Stats on Farmland Prices Don't Tell You
The story I tell — that the average farmer will be dead by the time the average farm is paid for — is a classic example of lying with statistics.
Your Local Farmer isn't on Salary
One of the first rules of business I learned was this: Pay yourself first.
What makes a Healthy Business Environment for Farmers?
Canadian farmers struggle financially because the business environment they exist in is not a healthy one.
Why Food Businesses don't stay Small
Farms — by their very nature — will always be a poor investment if the goal of investment is to find high-growth unicorns. And, without that investment, farms will always have a disadvantage in market power compared to the giant companies that they do business with.