Tag: farmer suicides

Do You Eat Food?

Submitted by Hardscrabble Farmer

Not a fan of NPR, but it highlights a lot of the problems we’re going to be facing without actually realizing why.

Like why would someone try and be a vegetable farmer in the high desert where the annual rainfall is less than 18″?

Seems either exceedingly shortsighted or mentally retarded, but like they say, even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes.

Food for thought, as they say.

P.S. This is not a cry for help.

Via NPR

The Devastating Drought Across The West Could Mean An Increase In Farmer Suicides

Across the West, drought conditions are the worst they’ve been in nearly two decades. The dry weather is hitting farmers and ranchers particularly hard, who need water for their crops and livestock. But it’s not just their bottom line that’s being threatened. The effect of drought and climate change on agriculture workers’ mental health is increasingly concerning health care providers.

Mindy Perkovich has been a farmer for about 12 years.

Continue reading “Do You Eat Food?”

Farmers are killing themselves in staggering numbers

Via CBS

Image result for farmer suicides in usa

“Think about trying to live today on the income you had 15 years ago.” That’s how agriculture expert Chris Hurt describes the plight facing U.S. farmers today.

The unequal economy that’s emerged over the past decade, combined with patchy access to health care in rural areas, have had a severe impact on the people growing America’s food. Recent data shows just how much. Farmers are dying by suicide at a higher rate than any other occupational group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The suicide rate in the field of farming, fishing and forestry is 84.5 per 100,000 people—more than five times that of the population as a whole. That’s even as the nation overall has seen an increase in suicide rates over the last 30 years.

Continue reading “Farmers are killing themselves in staggering numbers”