With the average age of the American farmer now over 50 years old according to the Environmental Protection Agency and the family farm on visible life support, the Obama Administration has moved to put the ailing patient out of his misery with a well aimed bullet right between the eyes.
What better way to ensure the complete and utter death of the family farm in just a few short years than to prohibit the children of farm owning parents from working the land and learning the business alongside Mom and Dad?
A proposed new rule from the Obama Administration would ban children under 18 from any farm work which involves the “storing, marketing, and transporting of farm product raw materials.”
A Labor Department press release read that “Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”
In addition, under this proposed rule, independent groups like 4-H would no longer be allowed to teach and certify safety training to children replacing such locally based youth agricultural programs with a 90 hour federal government training course.
Let’s think about this for a moment.
This rule forbids just about every farm chore I can think of right down to coloring a flyer with paper and crayons to decorate the farm’s booth at the local Farmer’s Market.
So, what are farm kids supposed to do then if they can’t do much of anything around the farm until they are 18 which includes running a small business of their own on the farm to generate some income for college?
I guess they can always play video games or watch TV instead. Surely there’s a video game out there where children can simulate farm chores without ever leaving the living room couch!
A generation of farm kids raised on sloth instead of a hard work ethic will undoubtedly ensure that few family farms will make it into the next generation’s hands.
With children not able to be mentored by their parents on the farm nor by other local agricultural leaders in their community via 4-H or FFA, loss of interest in agriculture by the next generation of family farmers is virtually guaranteed.
Wait a minute!
Did you hear something?
Oh, nevermind. It’s just the cha-ching of campaign contributions from Monsanto.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source:Â Rural Kids, Parents Angry About Labor Department Rule Banning Farm Chores
I deplore government overreach, but I sounded like a dummy when I complained about this to my “crazy liberal” cousin. She asked me if I read any original sources and basically told me I was acting like chicken little and had no credibility. When I read the govt. press release I saw a mention of an exemption for children working on farms owned by there parents. I want everyone to know that line is there because it is SO important to make intelligent, informed arguments, (as opposed to what happened to me.)
After reading more comments, it occurs to me that something has to be prohibited prior to it being “excepted.” Therefore, the Department of Labor has in fact prohibited children from helping on the family’s farm and then (supposedly) excepted them. And yes, I’m making that point to my cousin along with several excellent observations mentioned by you smart people here!
I shared this on Facebook after I’ve already shared other articles about it.
I wonder if you’ve seen this:
and this, about how Monsanto gives $$ to 4H but the didn’t sell out. I’m not sure that’s the case anymore. It was just their foot in the door.
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/08/4h-alameda-fair
Thank you so much for sharing. That is BS on TOP of BS. When is this country going to pull it’s head out of you-know-where?!?!
@Marleen – But kids also work on farms owned by other people (including relatives; I’ve known plenty of families that have a network of farms owned by relatives and the families are always zipping between them) or do work related to 4-H and FFA projects. How is that affected, if at all?
Sarah, here’s another article on this topic. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/04/susan-vasss-last-straw.php
First Catholics, then hippies & foodies, who else of their base will the Dems next attack, in an election year, no less?
It’s not just Democrats. It’s all “establishment” politicians. They’re all for big government, more control over the people. They’re all in bed with big corporations.
this is about so much more than the family farm.. a hard blow to the farm yes but another notch tighter on the belt of our “free society..”our town is installing cameras all through downtown.. for “safety” of course.. every intersection is getting them (to catch people running red lights of course..) people are inviting the cameras in to their homes now with home camera security systems.. not cctv mind you.. someone outside of the home, outside of your family can watch the camera if they ever find a reason to.. all of this for safety of course..
face it, this government doesn’t want a free society with free thinkers.. its not obama, its not bush.. its the powers behind the throne so to speak.. id bet all that i have that elections are rigged and id bet my life that you cant trust any large political figure anymore than you could pick them up and throw them..
were in trouble.. anyone above the age of 40 is in bad trouble.. all of the marketing, all of the news, all of the music and tv is targeted at today’s youth and getting them to put total trust in the government and override anything that the parent says.. all of our laws and rules are aimed at letting the children have all of the say so..40 years ago something like this would never fly.. the public would be in the street marching to dc.. today, this happens and people don’t care..
i really believe that there is an agenda in place to “breed the fight out of us..” each generation gets a little bit weaker and a little bit more of an “i don’t care” attitude than the one before.. they don’t want men to be men.. they don’t want men to be tough.. they don’t want the mother to be the heart and soul of the household.. they don’t want parents to have any say so..they don’t want people that ask questions, they don’t want people who form opinions.. they want to control all food, all jobs, all education, all taxes and every other area of our lives; and each generation we go through we get a little closer to that and and with each generation that dies off, we lose a few more of those who care to do anything about it.. our fight is being bred out of us one media, music, tv and educational curriculum controlled generation at a time..
there is something to this.. the laws coming out of nowhere, forced vaccines, sticking kids at school without parents knowing, the food system.. pulling laws out of thin air to suppress proper cancer research, and so so so much more..all of it, every single piece… its all intertwined, very well thought out and the bulls eye is on the back of every man woman and child in this nation.. just another notch in the belt this is.. how tight does it have to get before we realize we cant breathe..
having chicken and green beans tonight,
-jason and lisa-
sorry i must have missed the point of this proposed rule. Do they believe farmwork can indanger these children?
I thought Mrs. Obama wanted kids to be more active!
Sad guys…………..