I finally finished my graduate thesis a few weeks ago. Titled, "Tilling New Soil: Coverage of Organic Agriculture in Farm Journal, Successful Farming, and Progressive Farmer from 1985 to 2005," the document ended-up being well over 120 pages.
Look for it collecting dust on the shelves of Ohio University's Alden library and the Scripps building. I'll post a link to it here if one ever appears.
Edit: And here it is.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Death of a Farm
I just discovered this photo essay by Chicago Tribune photographer Scott Strazzante, in which he examines a farm in Lockport, IL that undergoes transformation into a cookie-cutter subdivision. It's a really beautiful piece and it's interesting to see a sort of reconciliation made between the agrarian past and the present. My dislike for new subdivisions, generic construction, and the destruction of America's farming heritage is by no means mitigated by this work, but I can certainly see that sometimes such progress (if it can be called that), is the natural course of things and that the inevitable can only be delayed so much.
Gastronomica Quarterly
I was in Borders about three weeks ago, browsing their selection of magazines when I happened upon a copy of Gastronomica Quarterly. Full of beautiful photographs, essays, criticism, reviews, etc., the magazine was compendium of current intellectual discourse on food and food culture. For some reason, I didn't buy a copy – I think I spent a bit too much on dinner and I was in a kind of "wallet-shock" at the moment.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Joy Tivy, "Agricultural Ecology"
Tivy, Joy, Agricultural Ecology, Longman Scientific & Technical: New York, 1990.
More of an overview of sustainable agricultural practices, Joy Tivy’s book is also a melding of the scientific method of Canter’s Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Activities, and the more critical and polemical approach of Fatal Harvest. Tivy also provides case studies of agricultural systems worldwide, from the rice paddies of southeast Asia, to the fields of Africa. While not necessarily so important to my particular study and research, such data gives a comprehensive examination of how the various economies of agriculture differ from what we see here in the United States. Also, like Fatal Harvest, correlations are drawn between agriculture, be it intensive or not, and conventional or organic, and its effect on the environment. This, unsurprisingly, gives Tivy the room to argue that organic non-intensive agriculture has less of a negative impact on the environment than other forms of farming.
More of an overview of sustainable agricultural practices, Joy Tivy’s book is also a melding of the scientific method of Canter’s Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Activities, and the more critical and polemical approach of Fatal Harvest. Tivy also provides case studies of agricultural systems worldwide, from the rice paddies of southeast Asia, to the fields of Africa. While not necessarily so important to my particular study and research, such data gives a comprehensive examination of how the various economies of agriculture differ from what we see here in the United States. Also, like Fatal Harvest, correlations are drawn between agriculture, be it intensive or not, and conventional or organic, and its effect on the environment. This, unsurprisingly, gives Tivy the room to argue that organic non-intensive agriculture has less of a negative impact on the environment than other forms of farming.
Michael Pollan, "The Omnivore's Dilemma"
Pollan, Michael, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Penguin Press: New York, New York, 2006.
In succinct terms, this book is all about the way that we eat. An examination of where our food comes from, how it is made, and how it wends its way from the farm to dinner plate, The Omnivore’s Dilemma is a crafted look at the ways that modern society has created a system to produce food on an immense scale, both organic and non, and also those producers and farmers who still practice the art of farming on intimate terms. Michael Pollan tours a massive feedlot packed with thousands of steers, followed by a walk around a small farm that engages in sustainable practices, and has built up a customer base and profits through the production of quality food. He praises the ideal of organic agriculture, while also pointing out that its recent popularity has led some organic producers to practice industrial agriculture on massive scales. While incredibly fascinating, informative, and balanced, Pollan’s book helps to answer why people find organic food worth the additional premium over conventional produce. And when one answers that question, does it become apparent why agricultural magazines would find it worthwhile to cover organic agriculture in a positive light: there’s money to be made. However, under the influence of the agrichemical industry that subsidizes most of those magazines through advertising, the potential of organic farming may be mitigated or dismissed entirely. So when a book comes along such as Pollan’s, the possibility exists that organic agriculture may become more accepted across all fronts, even as it is now a part of the mainstream of popular culture.
In succinct terms, this book is all about the way that we eat. An examination of where our food comes from, how it is made, and how it wends its way from the farm to dinner plate, The Omnivore’s Dilemma is a crafted look at the ways that modern society has created a system to produce food on an immense scale, both organic and non, and also those producers and farmers who still practice the art of farming on intimate terms. Michael Pollan tours a massive feedlot packed with thousands of steers, followed by a walk around a small farm that engages in sustainable practices, and has built up a customer base and profits through the production of quality food. He praises the ideal of organic agriculture, while also pointing out that its recent popularity has led some organic producers to practice industrial agriculture on massive scales. While incredibly fascinating, informative, and balanced, Pollan’s book helps to answer why people find organic food worth the additional premium over conventional produce. And when one answers that question, does it become apparent why agricultural magazines would find it worthwhile to cover organic agriculture in a positive light: there’s money to be made. However, under the influence of the agrichemical industry that subsidizes most of those magazines through advertising, the potential of organic farming may be mitigated or dismissed entirely. So when a book comes along such as Pollan’s, the possibility exists that organic agriculture may become more accepted across all fronts, even as it is now a part of the mainstream of popular culture.
Thomas F. Pawlick, "The Invisible Farm..."
Pawlick, Thomas F., The Invisible Farm: The Worldwide Decline of Farm News and Agricultural Journalism Training. Burnham Inc.: Chicago, 2001.
Thomas F. Pawlick’s book is an interesting animal. In the central thesis of the book, Pawlick bemoans the decline of farm and agricultural journalism. He lays out his case by describing the degree to which that farm reportage has declined in both prevalence, quality, and scope. Once reports from rural America were commonplace in major metropolitan newspapers – now, not so much. With the exception of a chapter devoted almost entirely to a discussion of the pitfalls of large-scale corporate agriculture, Pawlick hardly deviates from his analysis of agricultural journalism. Additionally, a look at the agricultural journalism of Africa, and for that matter, the overall agricultural situation in that continent, both in various states of disrepair, give Pawlick cause to urge on training for Africa’s agricultural journalists as a way for Africa to better its food production system and infrastructure. Referenced by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and ACCE (African Council on Communication Education) documents, the case is made for the importance of agricultural journalism, not just in Africa, but across the entire world. The value of this book to my work is in the fact that it discusses farm and rural journalism, as not just a variant of community journalism, but instead a genre all its own with real power and importance in the journalism world.
Thomas F. Pawlick’s book is an interesting animal. In the central thesis of the book, Pawlick bemoans the decline of farm and agricultural journalism. He lays out his case by describing the degree to which that farm reportage has declined in both prevalence, quality, and scope. Once reports from rural America were commonplace in major metropolitan newspapers – now, not so much. With the exception of a chapter devoted almost entirely to a discussion of the pitfalls of large-scale corporate agriculture, Pawlick hardly deviates from his analysis of agricultural journalism. Additionally, a look at the agricultural journalism of Africa, and for that matter, the overall agricultural situation in that continent, both in various states of disrepair, give Pawlick cause to urge on training for Africa’s agricultural journalists as a way for Africa to better its food production system and infrastructure. Referenced by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and ACCE (African Council on Communication Education) documents, the case is made for the importance of agricultural journalism, not just in Africa, but across the entire world. The value of this book to my work is in the fact that it discusses farm and rural journalism, as not just a variant of community journalism, but instead a genre all its own with real power and importance in the journalism world.
Edmund Morris, "Ten Acres Enough..."
Morris, Edmund, Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming, Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1864, 2004.
This text by Edmund Morris must have served as inspiration for so many of those back-to-the-landers depicted in Eleanor Agnew’s Back from the Land. Here, Morris details the exact steps he took to remove his family from the congested city of Philadelphia, and install them into the countryside of New Jersey where he commenced to build a personal economy that was sustainable and profitable, with only a small initial sum with which to make all his first purchases, including the farm itself. And Morris hardly dwells on just the pecuniary riches that his farm generates – he talks briefly about humankind’s role on the landscape, as both stewards, and as advanced animals, capable of destroying just as much as creating (91-92), which echoes many of the sentiments expressed by Wendell Berry.
What is so interesting about Morris’ book is that he makes farming out to be a completely accessible endeavour by nearly anyone, which is not necessarily true. The relationship between Morris and his land is a testament somewhat, of the power that farming, practiced sustainably, has to be profitable. Certainly, some of his techniques and equipment used are obsolete now in this era of information-tech and mechanization, but Ten Acres serves as a lesson that one need not dive deep into indebtedness and farming on gargantuan farms in order to live a sustainable and worthwhile existence on the land.
This text by Edmund Morris must have served as inspiration for so many of those back-to-the-landers depicted in Eleanor Agnew’s Back from the Land. Here, Morris details the exact steps he took to remove his family from the congested city of Philadelphia, and install them into the countryside of New Jersey where he commenced to build a personal economy that was sustainable and profitable, with only a small initial sum with which to make all his first purchases, including the farm itself. And Morris hardly dwells on just the pecuniary riches that his farm generates – he talks briefly about humankind’s role on the landscape, as both stewards, and as advanced animals, capable of destroying just as much as creating (91-92), which echoes many of the sentiments expressed by Wendell Berry.
What is so interesting about Morris’ book is that he makes farming out to be a completely accessible endeavour by nearly anyone, which is not necessarily true. The relationship between Morris and his land is a testament somewhat, of the power that farming, practiced sustainably, has to be profitable. Certainly, some of his techniques and equipment used are obsolete now in this era of information-tech and mechanization, but Ten Acres serves as a lesson that one need not dive deep into indebtedness and farming on gargantuan farms in order to live a sustainable and worthwhile existence on the land.
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