Jim Goodman

Jim Goodman

Jim Goodman is a third-generation dairy farmer from Wonewoc, Wisconsin.

Articles by this author

Leading up to the Senate impeachment trial, Mitch McConnell tells the GOP it will be "a vote of conscience," one wonders if they still understand the concept of having a conscience? (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Views
Monday, January 18, 2021
After Four Years, Accountability Is Long Overdue
The sacking of the US Capitol on January 6 was not at all surprising . Not surprising that Trump would encourage it, not surprising that those who had swilled his Kool-Aid would so willingly violate the US Constitution they claim to defend but clearly do not comprehend. The president had been...
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Wearing a mask has, sadly, become a political act, which it should not be, nor should it be a partisan act, it is simply a public health strategy. (Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, December 08, 2020
As The Pandemic Worsens, Politics and Ego Are More Important Than Public Health
Rev. Marlin Lavanhar of Tulsa Oklahoma notes that “There are a lot of people who are fasting right now in Oklahoma, not by choice.” Tulsa is not alone, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges , with limited or no income, 16.5% of the US population face food insecurity during the...
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The far Right sought to divert rur­al anger against immi­grants who were “steal­ing our jobs” and away from the Reaganomics that allowed cor­po­rate con­trol of the food sys­tem and left farm­ers with few options oth­er than get­ting big or get­ting out. (Photo: KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images) Views
Friday, October 30, 2020
How Decades of Corporate-Friendly Farm Policies Wrecked Rural America—And Paved the Way for Trump
My father was born in 1903 and in his 92 years he saw the trans­for­ma­tion of farm­ing — from hors­es to trac­tors, hand labor to mech­a­niza­tion — that occurred in the 20 th cen­tu­ry. I farmed that same Wis­con­sin land for 40 years and in that span of time I, too, saw dra­mat­ic changes in the...
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President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at the BOK Center on June 20, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Views
Tuesday, September 08, 2020
The Party Formerly Known as Republican
“The Republican National Committee (RNC) enthusiastically supports President Trump and continues to reject the policy positions of the Obama-Biden Administration, as well as those espoused by the Democratic National Committee today … [and that] the Republican Party has and will continue to...
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MEAT SOLUTIONS: The Cargill meatpacking plant remains in operation after scaling production after as many as 18 employees have contracted the coronavirus (COVID-19) virus on April 17, 2020 in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Meatpacking plants are altering their production as outbreaks of the virus have been reported at the factories in Colorado, South Dakota, and Iowa. Views
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Make a Resilient, Localized Food System Part of the Next Stimulus
From wasted food to the exploitation of farmworkers, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it painfully clear that this country’s food system must be changed. Politicians must pass further stimulus legislation that includes policy to reform our inflexible, consolidated food system to prepare for future...
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The governor should keep in mind that a more diversified food system, one with more small farms and local processing facilities, rather than one in a constant state of consolidation, is much more resilient and less susceptible to the weaknesses that we see occurring due to this pandemic. (Photo: Hero Images/Getty Images) Views
Friday, May 08, 2020
That This System Would Fail Was Entirely Predictable
As we face empty grocery shelves the fragility of our highly consolidated food system has become clear during the crisis of COVID-19. We see a market that lacks the resiliency to shift supply lines and fill those shelves, but also a food system that does not provide (and in most cases never has...
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Mega-billionaire, Democratic presidential candidate, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a campaign stop at Eastern Market in Detroit, Michigan, on February 4, 2020. (Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images) Views
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Bloomberg Won’t, As They Say, Play Well in Peoria, But Then, Neither Should Trump
It seems that having money, plenty of money, must somehow bestow a certain sense of omniscience upon the very wealthiest in society, making some of them feel that they are uniquely qualified to hold political office. It would appear, unfortunately, that there are many voters and media outlets who...
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Kudos to Senator Warren for endorsing the Farmers Bill of Rights, and to Senator Sanders for seriously mentioning the farm crisis. (Photo: TumblingRun/flickr/cc) Views
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Farmers Need a Bill of Rights
On January 11, 1944 in his annual State of the Union Address, President Roosevelt noted that while the Constitution guaranteed a set of political rights, they were in some respects inadequate. To ensure equality, Roosevelt proposed an Economic Bill of Rights that would guarantee: Full employment...
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Commodity crop production for export and ethanol production feeds only the bottom line of corporations and Wall St. (Photo: TumblingRun/flickr/cc) Views
Monday, June 17, 2019
Current Farm Crisis Offers Opportunity For Change
JFK, as it turns out, was not correct when he noted 60 years ago that the word 'crisis' is a combination of the Chinese brush strokes meaning danger and opportunity. While he was linguistically incorrect, we get what he was saying. A crisis situation can be the impetus for change, an opportunity to...
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Farmworkers—according to some estimates numbering approximately three million—are forced to work for next to nothing as the landowners that employ them receive prices that are well below the cost of production. (Photo: Michael Davidson/flickr/cc) Views
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
An Anti-Trust Reboot Could Give Democrats Traction in Rural America
Democrats need to study history and follow the example of Theodore Roosevelt , in other words, become “trust busters.” Roosevelt was a Republican and his willingness to confront the monopolists of his day earned him scorn from some, yet enough support to win the Presidency in 1904. Eventually, the...
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