All over the country, farmers are struggling to make ends meet in the same ways their fathers and grandfathers did before them. Where there used to be fertile land and opportunity to put money in their pocket, all that remains is topsoil that is only fit for a couple more harvests and worn blue jeans that can’t seem to hold water, let alone cash.
“It’s just so hard to see my family wasting away…” states one local farmer from central Illinois “We used to farm soybeans, but now we’re having trouble just affording the seeds…” says Philmar Carbor. “It is sad to see such an American culture be wiped out by bigger corporations that can afford to farm crops at large scale when small mom and pop farms like ours have had to turn to more undesirable ways of putting food on the table…”
That undesirable way he spoke of is crime. In 2023, Illinois reported 21,229 robberies statewide, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data. Many of these robberies were committed by farmers who just couldn’t sit idly by anymore watching money slip through their fingers.
When asked if he was ashamed of what he’s done, Philmar had this to say: “Come round my bloc you gon get ya pockets ran, boi” and Indeed, my pockets were ran.
It is very unsettling to think that even farmers, who were once America’s lifeblood, have had to turn to such activity just to keep themselves fed. You’d think they could just grow some food, but growing food takes time, and time, dear reader, is not on their side.