Ag commissioner candidate from Fayetteville: Farmers are our strength; leaders are failing them

I’m Dr. Sarah Taber: the first Council of State nominee for a major political party from Cumberland County since the late State Sen. Tony Rand in 1988. For those from my hometown who don’t already know me, here’s why I’m running for Commissioner of Agriculture.

I grew up working on farms. I got good at chores, sure — but I also got good at the livelihood part of agriculture. Working for lots of farmers, seeing what worked for them and what didn’t, I learned what farms can do for themselves to make a good living. I started sharing that information with my employers.

Next thing I knew, I’d built a small business coaching farmers on how to build a real livelihood on their property. I’m proud to say that every farm I’ve worked with is still in business. All together, my clients are now worth $4 billion. So when I tell you I know how to build rural livelihoods, that’s not blowing smoke. I’ll go toe-to-toe with anyone in North Carolina on that track record.

Farmers are in a bad spot. Failed leadership is to blame.

Here’s what I learned working with our state’s farmers: They’re in a bad spot. They’re making as little as half as much income per acre as farmers in Georgia and Virginia. That’s not because of weather, the soil, or agribusiness — we share those with Georgia and Virginia.

It’s a failure of leadership in our state. North Carolina’s Commissioner of Agriculture doesn’t provide basic services that farmers in other states take for granted. That’s why our farm sector has shrunk nearly one-fifth during his 20 years in office. And it’s why North Carolina leads the country in farmland loss.

Folks, our farm sector shouldn’t be suffering. The land in our state is good. We have massive, hungry markets for good food in the northeast corridor. North Carolina’s countryside should be thriving. The poverty, desperation and loss of farmland North Carolina faces isn’t natural. It’s a failure of leadership. It’s time for a change. That’s why I decided to run.

Grocery prices are sky-high. The real reason why.

For those who aren’t farmers — and that’s most of us! — the Commissioner of Agriculture matters for you too. Grocery prices are sky-high. Why? Food companies and grocery chains have been allowed to get so big, they act like monopolies: overcharging you just for the privilege of eating.

Why? When this much of the food supply goes through just a few companies, they know you have nowhere else to turn. You’re supposed to have someone fighting for you in the food system. That’s the Commissioner of Agriculture’s job. But for the last 20 years, we’ve had someone who cozies up to large food companies instead. We’re suffering because our own leaders have sold us out.

Let me be clear: I don’t have a problem with success. I know firsthand from my clients' success how quickly a well-run farm or food company can grow. But when that size becomes an excuse to abuse customers, we don’t have to sit here and take it. Capitalism means companies are supposed to have real competition. That’s why we have antitrust laws. And we need officials who aren’t afraid to use them.

As Commissioner of Agriculture, I pledge to support antitrust action in the food and farm sector. We need a strong food system that runs on healthy competition- not soft, spoiled oligarchs who want to dictate their own prices.

Legalize cannabis

There’s more we need to do to better serve our farmers and the public, like legalizing cannabis. Other states have proven that this common-sense move doesn’t push up crime rates or marijuana use. Instead, it brings accountability to what is already a large business.

Legalization isn’t radical: 11 states have already done it. Medical marijuana is already the norm in most of the U.S. North Carolina prides itself on being pro-business and pro-military. But our cannabis laws punish veterans by putting a proven, affordable treatment for chronic pain, sleep and mental health issues out of reach. It also costs the state up to $19 billion total economic impact each year, and up to $810 million in state revenues. That’s lost revenue that we have to make up by taxing everything else.

There are other ways our state can win big in agriculture. We could make billions growing high-value goods like hazelnuts, chestnuts, dairy, hemp and fruits and vegetables for northeastern markets.

But we don’t. Why? We don’t have the infrastructure. We don’t have facilities to ship vegetables, make cheese, shell nuts or turn hemp into fiber and paper for a market that large. Our missing infrastructure is a choke point that holds us back — and it doesn’t have to be this way.

As Commissioner of Agriculture, I’ll push for infrastructure so rural North Carolina can branch out and make better incomes. And I’m determined to see that opportunities in food and legal cannabis are open to everyone who’s up to the job. We need upward mobility in the state, not just cash grabs for the well-connected.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this campaign so far. I’m proud to call Fayetteville home. I ask for your vote in November and invite you to learn more and join my campaign at taberfornc.com.

Dr. Sarah Taber is an agricultural leader with a track record of growing new farm businesses and bringing new people into farming. She is raising her family in Fayetteville where her husband Rob teaches at Fayetteville State University.