Depression Roots

If you go back far enough, everyone has farming roots.  Whether it's your grandparent's family farm, or peasants working the fields in ancient times, everyone has farming roots.  While my in-laws extended family has much to do with farming, I wanted to find roots in my own family.  After talking and interviewing family members, I found the closest connection I had to farming.  

My great-grandparents, Peter and Ada Vlaanderen, had a small family farm.  Peter and Ada were married in 1927, having just immigrated to America from the Netherlands.  With the money they had, they were able to buy a small house, with a small farm.  However, times in America had just hit rock bottom.  1929 was the beginning of a long and difficult depression.  While Peter and Ada had a farm, they were not farming for a living and had very little experience with farming.  

Because of the Great Depression, farm prices and farm income dropped greatly.  People were starving and could barely survive.  Despite the hard times, Peter was able to find work here and there, and Ada worked the small farm.  The farm was their main and reliable source for food.  While they had no extra food to sell (or even part with at all), the food that Ada grew kept them alive and able to afford their house.  

Other's living during this time weren't as lucky.  21% of the work force in the 1930’s was farmers.  Because of the unbearably low farm prices and income, these 21% percent had difficultly.  Many of these workers had to choose between feeding themselves and losing land or not earning enough money to pay for food and bills.  Food was scarce and work was hard.  Having a farm and being able to grow enough food was lucky for Peter and Ada.  Many people were poor, some too poor to eat.  

However, the 1940's rolled around and the economy began to flower.  World War II hit, and the economy strengthened after the war ended.  Peter and Ada began having children and continued using their farm for their personal use.  After time, the food wasn't enough to feed the family.  By this time, 1945, herbicides and pesticides were being used.  Farm production was great, and Peter had a stable job to afford buying food.  However, it was that small farm that kept Peter and Ada afloat when the Great Depression hit.  Farming their own food is what kept them alive and off of the streets. During the Great Depression, many people farmed so that they could eat.  Everyone has a connection to farming somewhere back in their line.