"Since 1950, the number of people employed in agriculture has plummeted in all industrial nations, in some regions by more than 80 percent," says the journal World Watch. The United States, for example, now has fewer farmers than prisoners. What is causing this exodus from the land?
Major factors are falling income, rising rural debt, growing poverty, and increasing mechanization. In 1910, farmers in the United States received about 40 cents for every dollar that shoppers spent on food, but by 1997, the farmers' share had dwindled to about 7 cents. A wheat farmer, says World Watch, "gets just 6 cents of the dollar spent on a loaf of bread." This means that customers pay about as much for the wrapper as they pay the farmer for his wheat. In developing nations, farmers are even worse off. A farmer in Australia or Europe may be able to borrow from a bank to tide him over a bad year; a West African farmer may not be able to try again. He might not even survive.
"Monoculture crops introduced since the 'Green Revolution' have adversely affected biodiversity and food security all over the world."—Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
This means that customers pay about as much for the wrapper as they pay the farmer for his wheat. In developing nations, farmers are even worse off. A farmer in Australia or Europe may be able to borrow from a bank to tide him over a bad year; a West African farmer may not be able to try again. He might not even survive.