Actions show dairy farmers’ frustration

ONEONTA, N.Y. — On Dec. 16, 1773, a group of Bostonians, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into the Boston harbor to protest the tax associated with tea.

A group of New York dairy farmers made a move to follow this tradition July 4 by dumping their milk to protest the low prices they are paid for their product.

Though the situations differ, the same principle is at play in 21st-century New York as in 18th-century Boston.

When people feel powerless and disenfranchised, when they feel their voices are not being heard, they can be spurred to action that can speak louder than any words.

The plight of the dairy farmer is so well-known as to almost sound cliche.

In 1933, the New York Milk Control Board wrote that “prices paid for milk had fallen to such a low level that dairymen could not possibly meet their most pressing obligations. Even the bare necessities of life could not be secured by many farm families, and many dairymen were threatened with the loss of the farms and homes in which their meager lifetime savings were invested.”

We are nearing that point again today, and as in the 1930s, extreme measures may be necessary to bring about meaningful change.

Dave and Robin Fitch of West Winfield, N.Y., spearheaded the New York region’s participation in the modern day tea party.

Like the frustrated colonists who threw tea into the harbor, the Fitches have reached a breaking point.

“Enough is enough,” Dave Fitch says.

The milk strike of 1933 pressured the New York government to regulate the price of milk.

We hope the efforts of dairy farmers can spur similar actions to help the farmers out of their 21st-century plight.

Tags: opinion, livestock, dairy