What we can learn from the Smith family of Mount Hermon, La., is how to rise to the occasion, how to be inspired but more importantly why we should buy local products.
 
Driven to a completely new business model after a bad economy ravaged their dairy farm, Warren and Sandra Smith lit a candle in a dark room. While other dairies in their town were closing down at a rapid rate, the Smiths decided to market in a entirely different way; to directly vend their whole-milk products to consumers.
 
Tenacious and motivated, the Smiths are the kind of busines owners this country should be supporting. Aside from their catchy “where the cream rises to the top,” slogan, the fact they work seven days a week to care for their 150 Holstein cows is a trait to be admired and supported by our society.
 
Unfortunately, in a land where the mentality is “the bigger, the better,” small farms and the farmers who depend on their livelihood are being swept under the rug.
It’s not only a shame because we’re losing good, honest food suppliers who aren’t trying to poison us with pesticides   — but also because this ideology is far away from what’s healthy for our environment.
 
Few people take the time to think of the amount of effort it takes to get produce from the farms to the grocery stores.
 
For every kiwi or pack of blueberries picked up smack dab in the middle of winter, millions of tons of gasoline and diesel are spent to transport products.
 
Pollution may be one of the many problems that come with sailing shallots and flying fruit, but there’s another issue that far exceeds it in terms of importance and humanitarian efforts.
 
But in the industry of big produce is a hidden cost for which Chilean workers are paying the ultimate price.
 
In Chile, where much of our summertime fruit comes from , Oxfam International states a minimum wage for agricultural workers is nonexistent.
 
Women who work more than 60 hours a week hardly see a dime of the more than $200 million dollars spent on produce, pushing them further into financial insecurity.
 
They struggle to put food on the table for their families. But as consumers, we hold in our hands the power to help them.
 
There’s often the idea that we’re the only ones being influenced by our decisions, when in fact, the weight of the world depends on them.
 
And in an economy based off supply and demand, it’s time for us to use the influence of the mighty dollar to make a difference in not only the way we eat but also the ideals with which we buy our food.
 
Instead of believing product choice has little to no influence on the way food is grown, we need to embrace the notion that every dollar and every decision counts.
 
Walking through the grocery store may not be an adventure, but it also isn’t a free-for-all. It’s time to remember the people who suffer and often die for our food.
More importantly, it’s time to think of the local farmers who don’t have to.
 
By supporting locally grown food instead of the big produce industry, we’re telling the industry, in a small way, that the way they’re treating their workers is improper, and we refuse to stand for it.
 
The small farmers of Baton Rouge spend their time and effort to provide us with healthy alternatives and yet, they’re not dying in the arms of capitalism.
Instead they’re spending their time advertising on a local level at the Red Stick Farmers Market of Baton Rouge happy to have you as a customer.
It’s time to make a decision, LSU. Buy local and homegrown or go home.
 
Priyanka Bhatia is a 19-year-old pre-veterinary medicine major with a minor in environmental management systems. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_Pbhatia.
 
 
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contact Priyanka Bhatia at [email protected]