AU Ag Leader Says Food Production in America is Facing a Crisis

MOBILE, Ala. —More than 100 members of the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association heard an ominous forecast for the future of America's food production from David Teem, associate director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, during the group's 13th annual meeting held recently at the Riverview Plaza Hotel in Mobile.

Teem, who spoke during the meeting's opening session on Nov. 11, warned the group that America has become alarmingly complacent about food production.

"If we wake up at 2 a.m. and want a midnight snack, we can flip on the light switch, go to the refrigerator and look inside for something to eat. If we don't find anything there, we can go to our car and, if we live in a town of any size, we can drive to a 24-hour grocery, walk in and find food on the shelf," said Teem.

"We take it for granted that the lights will come on, that our car will start, that there will be food on the grocery store shelves," he continued. "We need to start thinking about why these things are available."

According to Teem, American agriculture deserves much of the credit for the nation's prosperity. "We can have two cars, a nice house, color television sets, and even a motor home in the driveway because we spend less than 12 percent of our disposable income on food," he said. "That is remarkable, especially when you consider that most countries spend 25 percent or more, if they can get food at all." In a world where international policy is controlled by "guns and butter diplomacy," Teem contended that it is the lack of food, not the lack of guns, that poses the greatest dilemma for most countries.

"Russia has plenty of guns and no butter," he said. "There are certain basic needs that a government should provide its citizens. One is national defense, and a stable food supply is vital to our nation's security."

How did America develop an affordable, quality food supply? "Not by accident," said Teem. "The land grant university system is greatly responsible for our abundant food supply. Through the land grant system, we have made remarkable improvements in genetics, production practices, and other factors that have allowed farmers to make phenomenal yield increases."

As those yields have increased, however, prices for farm goods have not. Today, said Teem, production increases have peaked, but the cost of producing these commodities continues to rise. "We have not been willing to let prices rise to meet the increasing cost of production. We take cheap, high quality food for granted, but we cannot continue to do this."

"In my opinion, what farmers should have done was raise prices to coincide with increased production costs the way most businesses do. If they had done so, we would be paying two or three times more than the 12 percent we now pay for food," Teem said. "But, if that had happened, we wouldn't take it for granted that food stores would be stocked with food and open for our convenience 24 hours per day."

Some people contend that agriculture should be subjected to the ups and downs of the free market, but Teem disagreed. He noted that if production is curtailed by market forces, when agriculture again needs to feed a hungry society there will be no infrastructure to support it. "If the tractor and irrigation dealerships, the fertilizer and ag chemical dealers and a trained farm labor supply are gone, it won't be so easy to just wave a magic wand and bring these people back," Teem warned.

Teem stated that complacency also exists within the farming sector. "When farmers have problems, they expect to be able to find the answers from their land grant institutions," he said. "I am very concerned that some day this will no longer be the case because of funding problems."

"The very research and extension work that has helped make agriculture so productive is being threatened," he continued. "As funding is reduced, the Experiment Station is keeping our research programs active, but we are doing so at the expense of maintenance. We are putting all our money into salaries and fixed costs, but letting our facilities and equipment go. This is not highly visible, but we are in essence eating our seed corn. Eventually these losses will catch up with us, and we will not have the basic tools to do the needed research down the road."

Teem urged those attending the meeting to not take agriculture or the land grant system for granted. He suggested that agriculture and the nation should do a better job communicating with legislators and policy makers about the importance of agriculture and agricultural research and education.

"Every other nation fiercely defends their agriculture. Agriculture, as with mining and manufacturing, is a principal source of new wealth for our economy. Sustaining agriculture will benefit the entire nation, but we need to let our leaders know this."

Teem was one of many speakers featured during the three-day meeting. Those attending were provided a wide variety of information on production, marketing, and policy issues affecting fruit and vegetable producers.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

11/13/92