Food Security is National Security

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Holding AFT's 'No Farms No Food' Bumpersticker

In the midst of many newsworthy debates over national security, the ability to feed ourselves is often overlooked.

In America, unwise urban sprawl is eating up our nation’s farmland at a rate that puts the future of our food security at risk – a staggering 78% of vegetables and 67% of our dairy products, are produced in areas threatened by development.

What happens when we pave our last farm?  What happens when food goes the way of oil and Americans become reliant on another set of foreign imports?

There are no alternatives to food, we either have it or we don’t.  And if we don’t, we jeopardize our ability to feed ourselves-fundamental to our very existence.  America is blessed to have fertile land that can produce enough food for us and millions of others around the world.  That is rare, and we should not sacrifice this security to short-sighted development that takes our resources for granted.

In a recent article in the New York Times, the author discusses the idea of “agro-imperialism,” in which some countries are buying up farmland from more fertile countries, because their own land cannot sustain their bourgeoning populations. 

Thanks to our farmland, the US has not had to participate in this global “land grab.” But, our land is a finite resource and if we do not treat it as such, we too will be looking elsewhere to produce the food we need to survive.

I am reminded of the story of how the Romans ended their rival Carthaginians by sowing salt into their fields; no strangers to food shortages, the Romans understood that without farmland there is no civilization.

Lets not recreate what the Romans did to the Carthaginians, to ourselves.

America has long been self sufficient, growing much of our own food right here on American soil.  This is not universal and not something we can take for granted.  We must protect our farmland – our productivity and national security depend on it.

About the Author: Jon Scholl is President of American Farmland Trust. Prior to AFT, he served as Counselor to the Administrator for Agriculture Policy at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Jon and his family operate a corn and soybean farm in McLean County, Illinois.