Column: In times of trouble, who has your back?
It's no secret: Farmers are in trouble. It's not just farmers, either. Everyone who has been in a grocery store recently has gotten sticker shock. People are scared, and rightly so.
Since the start of the Iran war, the cost for producing food and other goods in South Carolina - and around the world - has gone up. What that means for you is obvious: higher prices at the pump, higher prices for consumer goods and higher prices at the grocery store. If that wasn't bad enough, it gets worse: fuel and energy is the root of all economic activity. Farmers aren't just struggling to produce food; they're struggling to keep the family farm in the family and keep going. Agriculture makes up 51% of South Carolina's $287 billion GDP - over half of our state paycheck.
So what should be done? Anyone can identify problems, but a leader builds solutions. I've been an agriculture policy leader for over a decade, and at this point, I've seen how both good and bad policy can help or hurt farmers and citizens alike. I spent four years in Washington, D.C., working on the House and Senate Agriculture committees fighting for both groups of people. Now, I'm home working for you, and here's my plan:
1. Support farmers now. Legislators in the General Assembly must quickly pass and support a one-time appropriation of funds to farmer relief. This goes without saying, but farmers are our backbone in South Carolina. We can't lose them, and they can't lose their family farms and land. I know the pain; my great-great-grandparents lost our farm in 1929, but my great-grandfather was able to get back a portion of the land. That's not the case for everybody. Just last year, around 100 South Carolinians lost their farms. It's a matter of our own safety and security to be able to produce our own food, especially when we import the other 90 percent of our food from out of the state.
2. Ease the burden on consumers, too. Did you know that our lawmakers have proposed a pause on the S.C. gas tax? Our legislature could lower gas prices now - not later - by up to 28 cents per gallon for up to 60 days. This is critical during both planting season and the summer, when gas prices are at their highest! But even more than that: S.C. House Democrats have submitted legislation to provide $50 million in farmer relief to keep our farmers in business. What better use for our tax dollars than supporting our own and keeping our No. 1 industry afloat?
3. Create an Agriculture Emergency Fund administered by my department. Our state runs a budget surplus of $1.8 billion - billion with a B! What should we do with it? We know the answer from another historical example: Joseph. In the Biblical tale, God warned Joseph in a dream of the upcoming famine. While we still need God's guidance, we do not have to wait on a dream; He taught us to save and prepare. If elected, I will advocate on behalf of farmers and you for the state to set aside funds for a time like this. These funds would rest at the S.C. Department of Agriculture as a line item on the budget to be overseen by the commissioner (vote Blanding!) so that when an economic or environmental crisis comes, it can be quickly administered.
So, times are tough right now, but tough times don't last; tough people do. And South Carolinians are tough. During challenging times, we all look for someone that has our back. Proverbs 17:17 says, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for times of adversity." As your brother, friend and homegrown candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture, I hope that you let me have yours.
DeShawn Blanding of Manning is a candidate for South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture.