Dear Dreamer
love, America
According to statistics in 2023 Oregon currently has the second-highest untreated addiction rate in the country. The state also ranks last in the nation in providing addiction treatment access.
Oregon is also one of the most farm reliant states. Farmers and ranchers here produce over 240 agriculture products that feed the state. They are renowned across the country and the world for their quality. It may be surprising that 97% of Oregon’s farms and ranches are family owned and operated. However, they are folding faster than ever due to suffocating, intentional legislative agendas, as land is purchased by more and more foreign entities — and good people, many who have held onto century farms, are swallowed up, along with our most important food chain.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
But what of them? what of all the people who have no say, no vote, in this meaningless word “Democracy.”
Dear Dreamer dare to dream as politicians boldly scheme Dear Farmer tilling soil for regulators you toil Dear Ranch home on the range cabinet birdcage in exchange Dear Doers that cannot do for their claws are scratching you Dear Drug Addict unambiguous your stump of sidewalk deciduous Dear Drug Racketeer we see your new frontier Dear Dying and the Dead your trust they surely tread Dear God upon the Universe help the idols of such foolishness Dear Dreamer stay awake for your time is sure at stake Dear Wordsmith, Poet, Artist hold on for you are stardust Dear Land of the Free release it back to thee. love, America ox Dear Dreamer - by deborah t. hewitt
I think back to the very first settlers and all that they endured to farm this land and I can’t help but wonder what they would think of these foreign entities buying up the land that the first American settlers fought so hard for. For what purpose? And why are so many of the large chunks of land that the Chinese have bought so close to military bases? We live in scary, uncertain times.
I have a strong emotional connection to Oregon.It was my Dad’s home for years before he sired me. He managed advertising for the Portland Oregonian. We are an ag family, so we were always connected to the land in both Oregon and in California, where I reside in the Central Valley. Growing up -every farm was family owned. Over the last 40 years corporations and China especially have crept in and own most of the 100 mile radius of farmland around Fresno. This area produces more produce then anywhere in the world, and feeds most the United States, and a lot of the world.
Oregon, unfortunately is falling the same way. Banks grabbing up farms and offering predatory loans to desperate farmers. The farm I live on was once owned by a family who are worth about $60 million. They owned several wineries in Napa and most of the grapes in the area where I live. They build a cold storage unit back in the 60s so they could sell their grapes at the highest market price. One year was a bad one, because of an El Niño, and they lost a lot of crops. But it didn’t really set them back. But regardless an attorney who also worked for the bank convinced them to take out a loan to cover their taxes that year, and they would be able to make up all of their loss, and profit more in a few short years. They signed on the dotted line. One thing they didn’t look was a little clause which gave only the bank full approval to release grapes from cold storage. So for the next several years grapes sat and rotted in storage bankrupting the family. They went from being multi millionaires who hosted senators and presidents right here on the ranch where I live to complete poverty relying on food stamps.
Control the food, control the people.