, ,tt is curious how seldom the all
importance of food is recognized. You see
'statues everywhere to politicians, poets,
and Bishops, but not to cooks, "
-George Orwell
Although there probably are no statues
of cooks in Nebraska, the state recognizes
the importance of food by being historical
ly one of the major producers of food com
modities for the nation.
The Nebraska Statistical Handbook for
1970 shows that Nebraska ranked fifth in
the nation in the production of corn for
feed, fifth in wheat, third in sorghum and
sixth in sugar-beet yield. In 1971, Nebra
ska ranked third in the number of cattle on
its farms and sixth in the number of hogs
and pigs.
In his story, Mike Sweeney discusses the
relationship of Nebraska and agriculture
and how the state has resisted the trend to
ward urbanization.
Although Nebraska has not followed
this trend, the state'i farmers have follow
ed another trend by adopting technological
innovations that have changed the meaning
of farming. Kathy Chensult talked to a
farmer about changes he has witnessed and
how he views those changes.
Val Swinton talked to another fanner,
Curt Brown, formerly i student at UNL,
who just returned from Washingron D.C.
where he was part of the farmers' protest.
A Washington study done last year said
that half of all hamburger and one of every
four pounds of beef consumed is eaten
away from home. Most of this beef is sold
in restaurants.- Shelley Smith talked to
managers of local fast food restaurants
about the history and growth of the
industry.
For food that Is consumed at home,
Cindy Coglianese talked to food Store
owners and nutrition experts about the
differences between health, natural and
organic foods and the food sold on super
market shelves.
The same concern that prompted the
rise of stores selling more natural foods
also has resulted in the popularity of veget
arianism. Be'tsie Amnions and Alice
Hrnicek explored this change in eating
habits.
Bakery Production and Marketing last
year published a report that said two -thirds
of every dollar spent in -supermarkets re
sults from decisions made in the store.
Store managers and marketing professors
who talked with Cathy Hlggins explained
the objectives of food packaging.
The one aspect of food everyone is
familiar with is the preparation. But UNL
photojournalism. Prof. George Tuck says
that Americans don't spend as much
time on this part as they could. Tuck, who
studied cooking In Paris, described to Mary
Fastenau the differences between French
and American cooking.
Magazine editor: Deb Shanahan. Layout
editor: John Minnick,. Editor in chief: Pete
Mason. Advertising manager: Denlse Jor
dan. Photography chief: Ted Kirk. Produc
tion manager: Kitty Policky. Business
manager: Jerri Haussler.
Fathom is a magazine published and dis
tributed tri-weekly on -Fridays by the Daily
Nebraskan. r
Unless covered by another copyright,
material may be reprinted without permis
sion if attributed to Fathom, magazine of
the Daily Nebraskan 3
Cover ;photd courtesy of the Nebraska
State Historical Society,
mines in farmer's
By Mike Sweeney
It was sweltering inside the old Coliseum of Chicago
that July day in 1896 when William Jennings Bryan stood
up to address the 18,000 people gathered to choose the
Democratic presidential nominee.
The air of the convention was tense. The meeting
marked the first open clash between the party's two
factions-a silver faction wanting unlimited silver coinage
to increase the money supply, and a gold faction, intent
on limiting the silver supply and preserving the value of
the dollar. .
Bryan advocated unlimited silver because it would help
ease the farmers' economic troubles. The farmer, Bryan
believed, was essential to the country's economy
When the "silver-tongued orator" spoke to that
Chicago crowd, his words wove a spell that electrified the
audience and won him the nomination.
"You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in
favor of the gold standard," Bryan said. "We reply the
great cities rest upon our broad and fertile farms; bum
down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will
spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and
grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country."
CONSIDERING THE number of people then living in
the rural areas, Bryan may have been right in attributing
so much economic importance to the farmer. America had
a rural complexion in the 1890s, with 649 percent of the
country's people living in rural areas (places with less than
2,500 people), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But in the 83 years since Bryan's speech, the country's
complexion has changed.
The 1970 census indicated only 26.5 percent of the
population lived in rural areas. The number of people
employed on farms has fallen from a high of 13.6 million
in 1910 to 55 million in 1970.
Nebraska, however, has been an exception to the
urbanizing trend. Almost half of the state's people live in
rural areas. If Bryan were alive today, he probably would
be happy to learn that the farmers of his home state still
exert economic clojrU
"The state's econorSy goes as the agricultural economy
goes," said Glen Vollmar, chairman of the UNL agricult
ural economics department.
"'.-
THE AGRICULTURAL and indistrial segments of the
state's economy are related, Vollmar said. Many of the
state's business and factories cater to the needs of the
food producer and the food consumer.
Vollmar said there is a trend among the states to in
crease the emphasis of the non-agricultural economy, but
Nebraska hasn't followed the pattern as much as the other
States. r v
"Nebraska is slower than the rest of the country,"
Vollmar laidi . ;
y He said thijtate has stayed basically agrarian because
it has large amounts of natural resources excellent for agrf
' culture, such as soil and ground water. N
In addition, Nebraska is not near the industrial centers
of the country's coasts. Anything manufactured in the
tate must be shipped long distances, and that discourages"
large companies from locating here, Vollmar said. : : -.
1 The agricultural roots of Nebraska-a state that has
defied the. trends of urbanization and heavy industrialization-lie
deep In history.
Nebraska flung open its doors to small farmers on
January 1, 1863, when the Homestead Act took effect.
THE HOMESTEAD ACT, James C Olson writes in The
History of Nebraska, said "any person who Is head of a
family, or has arrived at the age of twenty-one years . . .
could upon the payment of a S10 fee, file claim upon as
much as a quarter section. the homesteader would re-
ceive a final patent on the land if he lived on it for five
years.
The enthusiastic rush for Nebraska land was typified
by the first person to file a claim under the act, Olson
writes.
Daniel Freeman, a Union soldier home on furlough,
apparently persuaded the registrar of the land office at
Brownville to open up shortly after midnight, Jan. 1,
18S3, the day the act took effect. Freeman filed a claim
on a quarter section of land along Cub Creek north of
Beatrice, then left the land office to join his regiment.
The western half of the state was initially considered
unfit for settlement and was called "the Great American
Desert," Olson writes. However, a promotional campaign
by the railroads helped demolish this belief, he said.
Despite periods of drought, economic depression, and
grasshopper plagues that caused some settlers to leave the
state, Nebraska's population boomed from 122,993 in
1870 to over a million in 1890.
VIRTUALLY ALL of the population increases be
tween 1890 and 1910 came in the cities, Olson wrote. Yet
despite its growing cities, Nebraska remained a rural state,
with 65 percent of the population living on farms or
ranches or in small towns in 1930, and 46 percent in
1960.
Today, the 1979 World Almanac and Book of Facts
reveals Nebraska has about 70,000 farms which produce
one-tenth of the nation's corn and one-twentieth of its
wheat.
A portrait of the average Nebraska farmer would show
a person satisfied with his job, but who may hold an extra
job or have money invested in a city.
Nebraska farmers tend to have relatively high job satis
faction, according to associate sociology professor David
Johnson. He said farmers like being their own bosses and
feel a certain mystique about working on the land.
Nebraska farmers also tend to have more than one
source of income, Vollmar said. He said more and more
farmers from small and medium farms are involved in
"off-the-farm activities."
Some get second jobs in the city, others live off invest
ments, Vollmar said.
VOLLMAR SAID U.S. farmers have greater non-farm
income than they do farm income,
The farmer's portrait also shows the size , of his farm
has been increasing steadily. ,a '
"The number of large farms is increasing," Vollmar
said. He pointed out that In 1977, 25 percent of the
state's farms produced and sold 85 percent of the market.
In spite of the trend toward larger farms, Vollmar said
he thinks there always will be a place for the small farm in
Nebraska.
"As long as he (the small farmer) has access to the
market, can get capital and produce efficiently, there will
always be a place for him," Vollmar said.
William Jennings Bryan would have preferred it that
way.
' ' .SC. mJcV';'
s ' " , ' v -"5 -
3
'.jT
cm:-'
4:
Photo courtasy of th Ntbraska Suta Hittoricl Society
A Nebraska farm family at the turn of the century.
- i
fathom
Mday, march 2,1970
