And tobacco remains the one crop where you know how much you'll make if you plant it. So consequently, we're working more with rural loan programs of state and federal agencies. But finding another way to earn a living doesn't address the uniqueness of the tobacco farming community, she said. When you work tobacco, you help other folks with tobacco. There is and was a local economy that is not reflected on anybody's bank statement.
Berry concedes that tobacco farmers are getting quite bitter about the demonization of tobacco.
It's a legal cash crop, many of them argue, and no farmer ever forced anyone to smoke. It's their heritage. And all of a sudden they're evil. And all of a sudden the whole damn nation just converges on us. Sure, we resent it.