Neil Hamilton (lawyer)
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Neil Hamilton is the director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University and has served on the board since 1987. He has a juris doctorate from the University of Iowa. Hamilton writes, The Food Chain, a column in the Des Moines Register.
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Employment History
Hamilton taught for two years at the University of Arkansas and, from 1979-1981, was an Assistant Attorney General in the Farm Division of the Iowa Department of Justice. He is a former president of the American Agricultural Law Association
Books by Neil Hamilton
Writings by Neil Hamilton
How Industrialization is Restructuring Food Production
"How Industrialization is Restructuring Food Production" is an article from the Leopold Letter (vol. 6 nos. 1,2) by Neil Hamilton.
At the beginning of this article Hamilton states, "There are a body of assumptions about agriculture. These include:
- Farmers are independent - they can't be fired
- Farmers own their property
- Farmers sell their goods on the free market and profit
- Farmers retain control over production and marketing decisions
We are moving away from this sort of agriculture. Now comes industrialization. Contract production of livestock can turn farmers into low-paid, piece-work employees with limited opportunity."
"Corporate "farmers" are not true farmers, just as bank tellers are not bankers."
"The status of food producers, as either farmers or workers, influences many aspects of food and agricultural policy. The changing structure of agriculture has many implications for society."
"Who will be the decision-makers for agriculture on matters such as environmental protection or adoption of new technologies?"
"We are building a concentrated system of land ownership and economic control which was fled by our ancestors."
"We need to reignite the debate over industrialization."