Nebraska: Support farmers, not lobbyists

Repost

– Gameness til the End

Support farmers, not lobbyists

Brian Bresnahan

This morning, a child woke up hungry.  He’ll stay hungry because there isn’t anything to eat where he lives.

This morning, a farmer in Nebraska woke up with a new idea to grow more food on his land so that no child goes hungry.

This morning, a single mother sat at her kitchen table wondering how she would feed her family.

This morning, a farmer in Nebraska sat at his kitchen table wondering what he could do to raise more food so that no family would go hungry.

Today, a man told his wife and family he’d find a way to put food on the table, then walked out the door worried and spent the day trying to find a way.

Today a farmer in Nebraska walked out the door and put into action his idea for raising more food with fewer resources in hopes that no family would go hungry again.

Today, a mother and father will have to decide between paying for food for their family or medicine for one of their sick children.

Today, a farmer in Nebraska will work from sun up to sun down as he does every day, so there’s enough food that no family has to make such a choice.

Today, a father struggling to feed his family will look around at Nebraska’s abundance and wonder how his family could be going hungry when he’s surrounded by food.

Today, one, a small group, or a coalition of farmers will ponder and try to solve the problem of getting more food through the chain to families in need.

Last week, someone in Nebraska died of cancer.

Last week, Nebraska cattlemen raised over a million dollars at the Cattlemen’s Ball, as they do every year, for cancer research in hopes that someday no one would die of cancer.

Last year more than 16 million children lived in food insecure households.

Last year farmers and their trade groups shared ideas and held strategy sessions to help them grow more food, get it through the distribution system, and feed more people, including those in food insecure households.

Last year, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) developed new ways to talk you out of your money so they could make it harder for Nebraska farmers to do all these things.

There is a clear distinction between the work of Nebraska’s farmers and HSUS which endeavors to make it difficult for farmers to feed all of us, including those in need.

In a time and place where people go hungry every day, we have to question the motivations of those who place obstacles in the way of farmers trying to feed us.

Today, if HSUS contacts you and asks for your money, you should ask them why less than 1% of it will go to animal care and the rest will go to line their own pockets, lobbying lawmakers, and for ballot initiatives or restaurant propaganda against farmers who are trying to feed your fellow Nebraskans.

Today, if HSUS asks you to donate, you should ask them why they’re making it more and more difficult for farmers in Nebraska and across America to feed the hungry.

Today, every Nebraskan should turn their back on HSUS and tell them “not in my State.”