Frequently we hear about the need for new and younger farmers, but there are many barriers to attracting young people to farm in a way that will foster sustainable food systems. One of them, however, looms bigger than most: access to affordable, dependable health care.

When we talk about family farming and ranching, it means more than just whether a farmer works a plot of land. We associate supporting family farmers with supporting specific values – such as family ownership, local control, small-scale, environmental stewardship, community, and ecological diversity. These values are what motivate people to support family farmers by buying food that was raised on a family farm.

The sustainable food system we are trying to build relies on an abundance of diverse and sustainable family farms and ranches scattered all across the United States. For these kinds of farms to exist, sustainable must mean more than environmental sustainability – it must also include economic viability. Farming is a dangerous and risky business, and it becomes a whole lot less attractive when a farmer knows that he or she is one fall from the hay loft away from losing their land.

The stark reality of health care costs for farmers, who often must purchase insurance as individuals and pay more for it as a result, is enough to make anyone waiver in their desire to start a farm. Here are some statistics from a report by the Access Project:

While 9 in 10 farm and ranch operators have health insurance, nearly one-quarter (23 percent) report that insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket health care costs are causing financial difficulties for themselves and their families.

Respondents who reported financial problems spent on average 42 percent of their income on insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health care costs.

In addition, more than four in 10 farmers and ranchers (44 percent) report spending at least 10 percent of their annual income on health insurance premiums, prescriptions and other out-of-pocket medical costs.

To attract more farmers to grow food for a sustainable food system, meaningful health care reform must address the needs of farmers, rural communities, small business owners, and others who are forced in the current system to buy expensive individual insurance plans.

Some farmers and their families, due to pre-existing health conditions, are categorically rejected for health insurance. For them, there is little recourse except to either pay all health expenses out of pocket or for one family member to seek employment off the farm. This is also true for budding small business owners, full of innovative ideas who want nothing more than to be their own boss. Lack of health care reform hinders all forms of entrepreneurship because risking both income and the health of one’s family is too irresponsible a risk for most people to bear.

During the presidential campaign, President Obama promised to reform the broken health care system. Coalitions like Health Care for America Now! are organizing to push for reforms that take care of people’s health needs regardless of income, place of residence or employment status. They need you to show your support and push our elected officials to ignore the deep pockets of corporate insurance lobbyists and build a health care system that works for everyone.

Please get involved in the fight for health care reform. Several actions are available. The Center for Rural Affairs is circulating a petition on our website calling for incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Daschle to make reforms that work for all of America. Join, support, or volunteer for a group in your area doing health care reform work such as these members of Health Care for America Now. And of course, call your legislators and demand that they reform the health care system.

If diversified family farming and ranching is the goal, health care reform must be included to get there. It’s not only the family farmer or rancher who grows your beef or your vegetables who needs you. It’s also the office assistant or factory worker who would love nothing better than to grow the food that feeds rural communities.

With health-insurance reform, the tallest barrier between new farmers and their land crumbles.

Visit www.cfra.org/08/health to add your voice to our rural health care reform effort.

Contact: Steph Larsen, StephL@cfra.org, or 402.687.2103 x 1014 for more information.