Vermont could benefit from Donald Trump becoming president.
It pains me to write that sentence, but in a nuanced continuum of cause and effect and unintended consequences, Trump’s stance on immigration could save Lake Champlain from pollution.
Illegal immigrants from Central and South Americans allow the mega-dairy farms in Vermont to exist. The large farms run 24/7 and milk their cows three times a day.
Cows, it should come as no surprise, eat grass. But grass fed cows don’t produce as much milk as those that gorge on corn. So the large farms grow corn to feed the cows. Farmers must use artificial fertilizers and spray the corn with pesticides.
Farmers apply chemicals to the land, and the excess runs off into Lake Champlain. These chemicals add to the phosphorus deposits in the lake, causing a green algae to form on top of the water. Swimmers then have to wade through the unsightly slime. Plus the algae uses large amounts of oxygen, limiting the amount of O2 for lake bed plants and fish, eventually killing off these creatures.
“So if Donald Trump becomes president and therefore arrests and deports all of the illegal immigrants in Vermont, many of the large dairy farms would close” reducing the runoff into the lake, says James Maroney Jr., an art dealer, ex-dairy farmer and self-described, societal gadfly.
Maroney makes the case (all the while I’m cringing), but, sigh of relief, doesn’t actually support Trump’s racist, incendiary and shallow remarks. Trump “is a maniac,” he says.
The rise and influence of large farms will be tough to reverse.
Liberal Vermont is welcoming to everyone. In the state, there’s no social opprobrium to employers hiring illegal immigrants. Vermont is one of the best places for migrants to pick up work, with a green card not far behind.
And these foreigners deserve it. They work nearly 60 hours per week and get paid minimum wage, if that at all.
“Most dairy workers are paid in kind with housing and beef or milk,” Maroney says. “No one in their right mind would want to work in the dairy business given the conditions.”
It’s thankless, dirty work.
“You can’t get Vermonters to do that work,” Maroney says. Neither can you get the homeless transplants that sit on heavily-trafficked Burlington streets, collecting dollars from tourists for a Milwaukee Beast or an acid tab, to work at the dairy farms.
The low-pay can be linked back to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, which included the Fair Labor Act. On the surface, the act sounds like it would give rights to laborers, but the program excluded agricultural workers. Roosevelt excluded these workers in an effort to get the support of southern plantation owners that would not have voted for his other progressive policies if they had been ordered to pay their black workers more, says Maroney.
And the system is even more convoluted. Today, the dairy industry is propped up by federal and state subsidies in a way that makes it almost impossible to manage, Maroney says. In order to keep the price of milk low, the government gives farms subsidies to produce more. And according to Maroney, way more than necessary.
“The farmers are drowning in excess,” he says. “Americans take cheap food as a birthright; the farming industry is in such trouble.”
In 1940, 33% of American’s paychecks went towards food. Today, only 8% to 9% of an American’s wages go towards purchasing food.
This drop in food prices directly correlates to the invention of artificial fertilizer (and so it all comes back around). Artificial fertilizer caused farm yields to triple, lowering the price of food products by nearly two-thirds.
And because 99% of politician’s constituents are consumers, “who do you think they’re going to favor?” asks Maroney.
The drawbacks of conventional agriculture, that which uses artificial fertilizers, is not relegated only to Vermont. Conventional farming, is the second largest generator of global greenhouse gases.
So what’s the solution? Supporting the move to eco-friendly production and organic options, is a start. Suck it up and pay a little more for your produce. While Maroney would be willing to say that a conventional apple is the same as an organic apple, they aren’t produced the same. And the environmentally safe production is what you’re paying for.
—————————————————–
Not too long ago, four million dairy farms produced milk across the U.S. Today, less than 40,000 exist. In Vermont, a state known for it’s dairy, producing American splurges such as Ben & Jerry’s, only about 900 dairy farms still operate.
Smaller farms have been unable to keep up with production and prices.
The 1400 acres of Shelburne Farms makes it one of the smaller dairy farms in Vermont. It doesn’t produce all that much milk. It’s been able to survive by changing its business model, appealing to what Americans are willing to pay for: education. Fun fact: Shelburne Farms was designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect that designed Central Park in New York City and the grounds surrounding the United States Capitol building in Washington D.C.
In the early 70s, descendents of the original mastermind, Dr. William Seward Webb, transformed Shelburne Farms from a private business to a nonprofit organization.
Today tourists from all over the world tour the farm for $11 a pop. Kids run around chasing chickens and a few poor cows deal with small hands awkwardly squeezing her udders. Fresh bread and artisanal cheese is made on property as well.
But the most interesting part of Shelburne Farms is the more than 27,000 students that attend the educational programs each year. The curriculum focuses on the three E’s: environment, economy and equity.
It’s a provocative move from the three R’s–reading, writing and arithmetic. The three E’s will continue to be relevant, as future generations focus less on rote learning–memorization based on repetition–and more on problem-solving.
The adaptation to the changing times is commendable. Hopefully young minds are learning the causation chain. And figuring out new ways to deal with the dilemmas they were born into.
Interesting project! One thing you missed in Vermont (I’m sure you weren’t here all that long) is how our agricultural sector is changing. Shelburne Farms is, and always has been, unique. It was founded by a branch of the Vanderbilt family, and never really had to make money. Lila Vanderbilt Webb’s initial idea (turn of the last century) was to develop a humane model farm, in order to demonstrate best practices to other farmers. It was and still is a remarkably humane dairy, but there was never any way to make a profit keeping cows in barns with clock towers on them. Shelburne Farms also, by the way, has huge acreage for a Vermont dairy, although they have never had a huge number of cows by modern standards. Most large farms have more cows on less land, by not being designed by Olmsted! Shelburne Farms has become a very effective educational institution in the past couple decades, just as you write.
The broader change has been the rise of small, generally organic farms where mega-dairies used to be. Some of these farms are dairies with value-added operations such as cheesemaking. You can’t make money on 50 cows by selling milk, but you can by selling fancy cheese (or ice cream). The on-farm cheesemakers tend to cater to a fairly wealthy market. The other huge change is the appearance of large numbers of (mostly organic) vegetable farms that grow a huge variety of crops (a single farm might grow as many as 50 different veggies), and sell their product either through Community Supported Agriculture or at farmers’ markets, accessible to a more middle-class clientele than the $20/lb cheese (although not really to the poor, despite efforts). Some of these farms raise a few livestock, although generally not cows, as well.
Commodity dairy is slowly dying in Vermont, and has been for a century or more – it’s simply too hard with all of our hills! Agriculture, however, is alive and well!!!
Dan,
Thanks so much for the information…
I’m definitely noticing a move towards organic and smaller, local goods and services providers as I travel around the country. It was really fascinating to hear Maroney’s take… I’ve started buying more local food stuffs along the trip, whether it’s more expensive or not.
I’d love to chat with you more about Vermont if you have some time in the coming month. Holler at me on Twitter or by email!
What a insightful and interesting read! I find it such a shame that our desire as consumers is having such an adverse and probably irreparable effect on our environment.
I have personally given up milk for other alternatives as soya, or almond (not that these are necessarily any better for the environment) but because of animal welfare. I would happily pay a premium for local, well-sourced cow’s milk.
You also highlight one of the other downsides, in that people are now unwilling to spend more of their budget on food – the very thing that allows them to live well.
I look forward to future posts!
Thanks Thomas! I have definitely started paying more for locally-sourced, environmentally-safe foods since being in Vermont.
Unfortunately the basic premise of this article is based on a huge deceit by James Maroney who try’s to manipulate the facts to demonstrate the result he thinks fits his view of the world. This is not helpful as it leads to inaccurate conclusions. Although the rise of the large farms is based on the simple fact that we don’t have a system that controls over supply, in times when there is reduced demand. In fact the workers are, in the most part, paid a decent wage, not perfect but they are not just paid in kind. Any revisions to our immigration policy, which is desperately needed and does not include wall building, will include an agricultural worker provision.
Although 40% of the phosphorus in Lake Champlain is credited to the ag industry that means 60% is from other sources and we all need to work together to sharply reduce that. For farmers that is partly done by using a nutrient management plan, balancing inputs and outputs, and is a major part of the State’s efforts to reduce phosphorus.
Enjoyed reading through this, very good stuff, thankyou . “If it was an overnight success, it was one long, hard, sleepless night.” by Dicky Barrett.