Farm Bureau | Thanksgiving Indigestion & Inflation

FARM BUREAU

Thanksgiving Indigestion and Inflation

BY BRENT BURCHETT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY FARM BUREAU

Indigestion at this year’s Thanksgiving may not entirely be from overindulgence. Economists at American Farm Bureau are forecasting that 2022 will be the most expensive Thanksgiving meal in history.

The two factors driving high prices for turkey and eggs are an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza this year and like everything else we’re buying today – inflation. What may come as a surprise though, is how much of our rising food costs are self-inflicted by policy decisions.

The 2018 Cal Poly study “A Decade of Change: A Case Study of Regulatory Compliance Costs in the Produce Industry” brings this stark reality to light. For vegetable growers in the Central Coast, production costs increased by 24.8 percent from 2006 to 2017, but the cost of regulatory compliance rose 795 percent.

We should absolutely take pride in having high environmental standards. We should absolutely continue to become more efficient by producing more food with fewer inputs like water, fertilizer, pesticides, and labor. But far too often, laws and regulations USDA Economic Research Service, 2020

coming from all levels of government fail to consider the toll they take on people who produce our food. Far too often, the voices of farmers and ranchers are drowned out by activist groups who’ve never stepped foot on a farm, people who certainly have every right to advocate their cause, but who have failed to understand the plight of today’s food producers. Regulations hit our smaller family farms the hardest, and I fear the next addition to the endangered species list will be the California farmer and rancher.

To say things are tough in agriculture right now is a gross understatement. At Farm Bureau, we spend much of our time trying to bridge the ever-growing divide between food producers and policymakers. We’re further removed from the farm than ever before, yet we’ve never had more non-farming people who think they’ve got the simple solutions to the complex labor, climate change, supply chain, water, and profitability challenges plaguing us today. I don’t care how compelling that Netflix documentary you watched was — ain’t nobody got all the answers. Any policy conversation is lacking a diverse cast of full-time farmers and ranchers — people who actually depend on farming income for their livelihood — will inevitably drive-up food prices and make it harder for local farms to stay in business.

When you see high food prices at the grocery store during your Thanksgiving shopping, understand what that really means for farmers and ranchers: we’re feeling the pain with you. For every one dollar you spend on food, producers receive about 8 cents. Here’s a U.S. Department of Agriculture breakdown of the food dollar as of 2020: 8.0¢ goes to farms, 16.7¢ food processing, 3.1¢ packaging, 4.1¢transportation, 11.9¢ wholesale trade, 14.2¢ retail trade, 27.9¢ food services, 3.6¢ energy, 3.3¢ finance and insurance, 2.9¢ advertising, and 4.3¢ other.

Though it was said 62 years ago, a speech by then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy may have captured it best: “Here is a concept which strikes to the heart of the farmer’s problem. It does not concern itself directly or solely with prices — with what the farmer receives — but with his net income, his return, the only figure which is meaningful in determining his standard of living ... For the farmer is the only man in our economy who has to buy everything he buys at retail — sell everything he sells at wholesale — and pay the freight both ways.”

As you fellowship with friends and family this Thanksgiving, be thankful for the people who work in agriculture that put food on our plate.

Brent Burchett serves as the Executive Director of San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau. He can be reached at bburchett@ slofarmbureau.org or (805) 543-3654.

Brent Burchett serves as the Executive Director of San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau. He can be reached atbburchett@slofarmbureau. org or (805)543-3654. 