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There\\u2019s a crisis in the dairy industry  \\u2013 shrinking family farms, growing corporate consolidation, and low milk prices. And while the new \\u201cfair trade dairy\\u201d label depicts rolling green hills and picturesque red barns \\u2013 that imagery is nothing more than a feel good marketing tactic. 

In this episode, we hear how  Jim Goodman \\u2013 one of the hundreds of dairy farmers impacted by the dairy crisis \\u2013 struggled to keep his family farm afloat and compete with the big dairy companies. Jim talks about how generations of failed farm policy motivated his current work with the National Family Farm Coalition\\u2019s Disparity to Parity project, an effort dedicated to mandating fair pricing and building \\u201ca racially just, economically empowered, and climate resilient food system.\\u201d

Topics covered include:

• Corporate consolidation in the dairy industry and the explosion of mega dairies that are squeezing small dairy farmers out of business.
• The \\u201cget big or get out\\u201d approach to U.S. farm policy and how it shaped the current state of the dairy industry in the U.S.
• Organic dairy was originally a solution to match farmers with markets that would pay fairly for milk--what\\u2019s changed since the 1990s. 
• Family Farm Defenders\\u2019 idea of domestic fair trade encompassing \\u201cworker rights, food sovereignty, and global justice.\\u201d
• Behind the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)\\u2019s big promises for dairy farmers.
• National Family Farm Coalition\\u2019s Disparity to Parity project and their vision for fair pricing and \\u201ca racially just, economically empowered, and climate resilient food system.\\u201d
• The long history of global opposition to free trade deals and the commodification of food.
• How the new \\u201cfair trade dairy\\u201d label is just another marketing scheme.  

Resources

National Family Farm Coalition: https://nffc.net/

Disparity to Parity: https://disparitytoparity.org/

Family Farm Defenders: https://familyfarmers.org/

Bringing Fair Trade Home to the U.S., written by John Peck: \\u200b\\u200bhttps://familyfarmers.org/?page_id=653