1970s – 1980s Anti-Corporate Farming

Roger started anti-corporate farming work in the early 1970s initially through the Farmers Union, and set up the first hearings for Gaylord Nelson. This work expanded when a speech he gave in San Francisco on the negative impacts of corporate farming on small family farms connected him with the National Coalition For Land Reform. Roger became the coalition’s Midwest organizer so he had money to travel and “raise hell.”

Article Published in “The Network Quarterly” – Farmers, Consumers, and Agribusiness | 1976

Volume 4, Number 4, Fall 1976, by Roger Blobaum Probably no other nation had a stronger commitment to a system of family-operated farms and ranches than the United States prior to World War II. The Homestead Act was only one of many laws enacted to carry out the agrarian policies of Jefferson and others who shaped our national institutions more than 200 years ago. But our country began backing away from this commit­ment in the 1940’s, and we have seen a growing reluctance to challenge agribusiness and other outside forces chang­ing the basic structure of agricultural production. Family farms are still praised in political campaigns. And farm bills still include preambles citing their many contribu­tions. But the performance no longer matches the promises, and the result has been a steady increase in corporate in­volvement in agricultural production and the loss of more than three million farms over the past 25 years. The majority of our policymakers apparently feel that this rural upheaval, even with its heavy human costs, is both desirable and inevitable. But many individuals — farm and city alike—are beginning to question these assumptions and raise critical questions about how our food is produced and how our agricultural…

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Book Chapter in “Food For People, Not For Profit” – Wresting Agriculture from Corporate Farmers | 1975

Publisher: Ballantine Books; March 12, 1975 Wresting Agriculture from Corporate Farmers by Roger Blobaum The issue of corporate involvement in agriculture and concentration of land ownership is the farm policy issue of the 1970’s . . . A recent Minneapolis Tribune poll showed 76 per­cent of the people saying they consider the family farm an efficient method of food production, 95 per­cent feeling it is important to continue the family farm as a way of life, and 57 percent saying they feel corporate farming is a bad development. Yet 71 per­cent said they felt that corporations will be producing most of the nation’s food by the end of this century.

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Statement by Roger Blobaum Before Subcommittee on Foreign Economic Policy Of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Land Ownership And Control | 1974

January 29, 1974 Mr. Chairman, I appreciated very much your invitation to participate in this series of hearings on foreign investments in land, grain terminals, packing plants, and other facilities in this country. Although my work as a consultant involves several policy areas, I have concentrated on the issue of land ownership and control, particularly where large corporations are involved. I work closely with the Center for Rural Studies and other national groups involved in the land issue and was chairman of the First Midwest Land Conference last November. It dealt with several problems I want to discuss today.

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Special Report published in “The Link Newsletter” – The Family Farm Versus Agribusiness: Will the Corporations Take Over Food Production? | 1973

Connects Ideas and Services for People in Pastoral and Community Ministry SPECIAL REPORT, by Roger Blobaum      AUGUST 20, 1973 The Family Farm Vs. Agribusiness: Will Corporations Take Over Food Production? The family farm, an institution that has made American agriculture the most productive in the world and kept the land in the hands of those who work it, is in danger of being wiped out.

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