The Athens area’s thriving rural community could be a beacon in the dark for the nation, as agricultural America falls on deaf ears in Washington, D.C.
This past week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urged farmers across the country to tell their stories and let their voices be heard.
“Whether we like it or not, I think we have to address and have to acknowledge that the political clout that rural America once had, it doesn’t have as much today,” Vilsack said at the Annual Meeting of the Farm Bureau Federation on Jan. 14. “And it’s going to be important and necessary for us to have conversations about how we rebuild that political capacity, and I believe we can.”
Athens County’s population grew by 4 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to U.S. Census data. This increase is only half that of the more urbanized Franklin County, which saw an 8 percent population increase during the same time period.
Athens area farmers and residents are optimistic about the secretary’s remarks.
Vilsack is from Iowa, a mostly rural state, and understands the relevancy of rural America to the continued success of the country, said Tom Redfern, sustainable agriculture coordinator for Rural Action.
“I believe his remarks were intended to rally rural America around common goals, one of them being the adoption of an equitable Farm Bill, one that contains strong rural development titles,” Redfern said.
Rural Action is an organization based out of Trimble that works to create sustainable asset-based development opportunities in Appalachian Ohio.
Every five years, Congress revises the Farm Bill, a piece of legislation that controls federal spending on agriculture.
In addition to keeping in touch with politicians, Redfern said valuing local products such as food and timber and making sure that they are produced sustainably helps keep a rural community prosperous.
“We need to invest in each other, as opposed to Wall Street,” Redfern said. “We need to encourage our politicians to support Farm Bill programs that encourage local value chains, making, growing, buying and selling all locally as opposed to just supporting export-based agriculture.”
Support from local businesses and personal consumers is one of the main reasons for the area’s agricultural success, said Becky Rondy, who runs Green Edge Organic Gardens in Amesville.
“Market customers often thank me for the work that we do to provide this food,” Rondy said. “But I always counter with the acknowledgment that without the customers coming to the market, (Athens Hills Community Supported Agriculture), or to the stores that buy locally, we wouldn’t be able to make our living doing this work.”
ls114509@ohiou.edu
