Why Are American Farmers Killing Themselves?

ClareBroommaker's picture

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/06/why-are-americas-farmers-killing-themselves-in-record-numbers

Yes, that is a disturbing article.  Almost immediately I felt something akin to panic-sadness and thought I might have to read it in sessions.

An excerpt--

“People engaged in farming,” he explains, “have a strong urge to supply essentials for human life, such as food and materials for clothing, shelter and fuel, and to hang on to their land and other resources needed to produce these goods at all costs.”

When farmers can’t fulfill this instinctual purpose, they feel despair. Thus, within the theory lies an important paradox: the drive that makes a farmer successful is the same that exacerbates failure, sometimes to the point of suicide. In an article, Rosmann wrote that the agrarian imperative theory “is a plausible explanation of the motivations of farmers to be agricultural producers and to sometimes end their lives”.

I didn't know it was this widespread. I know how hard it can be to face each day knowing that the creatures and the gardens and the trees that you depend on could fail, wither, blight, or bloat at any given moment- and that's in perfectly good weather, mind. Add crippling debt and a totally unsupportive society that seems to think every farmer should be smiles and organic exotic greens with kids activities while you sample their wine.... I'm not shocked.