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This book looks deeply into the American food system and closely examines the need for change in the way food is grown and distributed in the United States. It is composed of twelve interviews with dynamic women who work on issues surrounding modern agriculture. These women are producers, academicians, advocates and activists. Some work in agricultural law and policy. All are devoted to changing the current system.

Within a framework that offers brief overviews of the development of U.S. agriculture, the interviews allow the reader to hear firsthand what has gone wrong and what we can do about it. Part One focuses on concepts of traditional agriculture, organic growing and market viability. Part Two discusses pioneering agriculture and the process of restoring our farms to thriving habitats of biodiversity with clean water and healthy soil. Part Three considers the issues of industrial agriculture, exploring the controversy of genetically modified foods, farm foreclosures, and the 2002 Farm Bill. Part Four returns us to sustainable agriculture and how we can make sustainability work for us. It includes discussions offarmers’ markets, co-ops, and local food systems. ... Read more

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As with other areas of human industry, it has been assumed that technological progress would improve all aspects of agriculture. Technology would increase both efficiency and yield, or so we thought. The directions taken by technology may have worked for a while, but the same technologies that give us an advantage also create disadvantages. It's now a common story in rural America: pesticides, fertilizers, "big iron" combines, and other costly advancements may increase speed but also reduce efficiency, while farmers endure debt, dangerous working conditions, and long hours to pay for the technology. Land, livelihood, and lives are lost in an effort to keep up and break even. There is more to this story that affects both the food we eat and our provisions for the future. Too many Americans eat the food on their plates with little thought to its origin and in blind faith that government regulations will protect them from danger. While many Americans might have grown up in farming families, there are fewer family-owned farms with each passing generation. Americans are becoming disconnected from understanding the sources and content of their food. The farmers interviewed in From the Farm to the Table can help reestablish that connection. Gary Holthaus illuminates the state of American agriculture today, particularly the impact of globalization, through the stories of farmers who balance traditional practices with innovative methods to meet market demands. Holthaus demonstrates how the vitality of America's communities is bound to the successes and failures of its farmers. In From the Farm to the Table, farmers explain how their lives and communities have changed as they work to create healthy soil, healthy animals, and healthy food in a context of often inappropriate federal policy, growing competition from abroad, public misconceptions regarding government subsidies, the dangers of environmental damage and genetically modified crops, and the myths of modern economics. Rather than predicting doom and despair for small American growers, Holthaus shows their hope and the practical solutions they utilize. As these farmers tell their stories, "organic" and "sustainable" farming become real and meaningful. As they share their work and their lives, they reveal how those concepts affect the food we eat and the land on which it's grown, and how vital farming is to the American economy.

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Agriculture -- California; Agriculture; ... Read more

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From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, farmers in the Corn Belt transformed their region into a new, industrial powerhouse of large-scale production, mechanization, specialization, and efficiency. Many farm experts and implement manufacturers had urged farmers in this direction for decades, but it was the persistent labor shortage and cost-price squeeze following WWII that prompted farmers to pave the way to industrializing agriculture. Anderson examines the changes in Iowa, a representative state of the Corn Belt, in order to explore why farmers adopted particular technologies and how, over time, they integrated new tools and techniques.



In addition to the impressive field machinery, grain storage facilities, and automated feeding systems were the less visible, but no less potent, chemical technologies antibiotics and growth hormones administered to livestock, as well as insecticide, herbicide, and fertilizer applied to crops. Much of this new technology created unintended consequences: pesticides encouraged the proliferation of resistant strains of plants and insects while also polluting the environment and threatening wildlife, and the use of feed additives triggered concern about the health effects to consumers.



Anderson explains that the cost of equipment and chemicals made unprecedented demands on farm capital, and in order to maximize production, farmers planted more acres with fewer but more profitable crops or specialized in raising large herds of a single livestock species. The industrialization of agriculture gave rural Americans a lifestyle resembling that of their urban and suburban counterparts. Yet the rural population continued to dwindle as farms required less human labor, and many small farmers, unable or unwilling to compete, chose to sell out.



Industrializing the Corn Belt based on farm records, cooperative extension reports, USDA publications, oral interviews, trade literature, and agricultural periodicals offers a fresh look at an important period of revolutionary change in agriculture through the eyes of those who grew the crops, raised the livestock, implemented new technology, and ultimately made the decisions that transformed the nature of the family farm and the Midwestern landscape. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Book
This is a first-class book: closely reasoned, thoroughly researched, and extremely well-written. Anyone interested in rural life, agricultural economics, our food supply, and the environment should owe and study this excellent monograph.

Indepth study of a major change in American life
This well researched and well written book studies the evolution of US agriculture from one era to another--a major shift in farming which impacts food production for all Americans. The author researches and discusses 1945-1972 agriculture extension services publications, individual farm records and personal farmer commentaries, farm magazines, land grant agricultural publications, and agriculture company materials among others.He also conducts first person interviews with farmers and their families who participated in the changes from 1945-1972 to help the reader understand some of the social and financial impacts on farm families and American rural life. Readers who lived these changes will identify with what is written and see themselves on the pages. Those who did not will marvel at what happened and the impact this era had upon all of us and what we eat.I am a biased reviewer because I had the privilege of watching this author grow up with a passion for history and agriculture. ... Read more

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*First ever collection of findings about the proliferation of urban agriculture written by the world’s leading authority in the field
*Urban agriculture feeds hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is a rapidly emerging issue in urban and development studies
*Accessible, jargon-free style, making it ideal for policymakers, city managers, students, and general readers

Urban agriculture is an increasingly popular practice in cities worldwide, and a sustainable future for it is critical, especially for the urban poor of the developing world. This book presents the first findings of original field research projects funded by IDRC’s AGROPOLIS International Graduate Research Awards on Urban Agriculture. Countries studied include Cuba, Argentina, Botswana, France, the UK, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Togo, and Tunisia. Together, these studies examine concrete strategies to better integrate "city farming" into the urban landscape. ... Read more

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Urban agricultural issues revealed
Luc J.A. Mougeot's AGROPOLIS: THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF URBAN AGRICULTURE offers a detailed, in-depth survey of urban agricultural issues, presenting the first findings of original field work funded by IDRC's AGROPOLIS project, conducted in mostly third world countries around the world. These studies consider how to blend 'city farming' into an urban landscape, discussing changing perspectives on regional urban agriculture, local sustainable development programs, and political and economic issues from urban area samplings. ... Read more

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Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Starving people in poor nations, obesity in rich nations, increasing food prices, on-going climate changes, increasing fuel and transportation costs, flaws of the global market, worldwide pesticide pollution, pest adaptation and resistance, loss of soil fertility and organic carbon, soil erosion, decreasing biodiversity, desertification, and so on. Despite unprecedented advances in sciences allowing to visit planets and disclose subatomic particles, serious terrestrial issues about food show clearly that conventional agriculture is not suited any longer to feed humans and to preserve ecosystems. Sustainable agriculture is an alternative for solving fundamental and applied issues related to food production in an ecological way. While conventional agriculture is driven almost solely by productivity and profit, sustainable agriculture integrates biological, chemical, physical, ecological, economic and social sciences in a comprehensive way to develop new farming practices that are safe and do not degrade our environment. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical and narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. As most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world.

This book gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.

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Agricultural ecology, or agroecology, deals in general with the structure and function of agroecosystems at different levels of resolution. In this text/reference, the authors describe in terms of agroecology the tropical environments of sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin and Central America, focusing on production and management systems unique to each region. ... Read more

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Best book on the subject
The book by Juo and Franzluebbers is the best book ever written on the subject of tropical soils and their management for sustainable agriculture. Authors discused systematically the properties of the major tropical soils, their linkage with agroecosystems and management options based on current knowledge. The book is very informative, easy to read, well illustrated and contains useful tables. It is highly recommended as introductory textbook for students in tropical soils and also for agricultural and environmental workers interested in natural resource management for agricultural production in the tropics. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

China countryside, 1911
I first read this in the Small Farm Journal. It recounts the ingenuity and hard work that Chinese employ to make the most of resources. Some of the grainy photographs were included there, but this republication does not include the photographs which I think are important.

really good book
This was a well written book that provided a lot of knowledge not just about ancient farming knowledge but even ancient conservation techniques.If you like organic or natural farming then you will find this book a good read. ... Read more

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Risk Management for Agriculture addresses the issue of price risk as a management function versus a marketing function.Price risks impact not only the marketing of a product but the cash flow and the overall financial health of the business.The use of derivatives such as futures contracts, options contracts, and swaps need to be viewed as tools that can be used solely or in combinations to control price risk. Each of these derivatives and subsequent combinations is examined closely and comprehensively within the text. Price forecasting is addressed as well as fundamentals of futures hedging and options hedging. There is a complete glossary of terms at the end of the text to help reinforce the terms that are used throughout. Although price risk is the focus of the text, there is also a chapter devoted to the management of other agricultural risks. Students and professionals will benefit from this text that takes a comprehensive, management approach to price risk. ... Read more

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The ancient Greeks were for the most part a rural, not an urban, society. And for much of the Classical period, war was more common than peace. Almost all accounts of ancient history assume that farming and fighting were critical events in the lives of the citizenry. Yet never before have we had a comprehensive modern study of the relationship between agriculture and warfare in the Greek world. In this completely revised edition of Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece, Victor Davis Hanson provides a systematic review of Greek agriculture and warfare and describes the relationship between these two important aspects of life in ancient communities. With careful attention to agronomic as well as military details, this well-written, thoroughly researched study reveals the remarkable resilience of those farmland communities.
In the past, scholars have assumed that the agricultural infrastructure of ancient society was often ruined by attack, as, for example, Athens was relegated to poverty in the aftermath of the Persian and later Peloponnesian invasions. Hanson's study shows, however, that in reality attacks on agriculture rarely resulted in famines or permanent agrarian depression. Trees and vines are hard to destroy, and grainfields are only briefly vulnerable to torching. In addition, ancient armies were rather inefficient systematic ravagers and instead used other tactics, such as occupying their enemies' farms to incite infantry battle. Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece suggests that for all ancient societies, rural depression and desolation came about from more subtle phenomena--taxes, changes in political and social structure, and new cultural values--rather than from destructive warfare. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Superb book, uses concrete experience to make a fine point.
The author uses his concrete experience as a farmer in the San Fernando Valley to develop a fine point about the "low intensity" character of Classical Greek warfare. He argues that, the Greek city-states waging warfare through part-time citzen militias, the war strategy of all Greek polities centered on the idea of forcing a pitched battle in order not to keep citzens away too long for harvesting at home. The means used to force such a battle being to disturb the enemy's harvest, which, however, given the low technology tools avaliable and the resilience of the crop-species - specially olive trees - could never amount to permanent damage. Therefore the general low-intensity, boarding game character of much of Classical Greek military history. A fine argued, important book, specially for the firm grasp of the concrete realities at play.

Excellent contribution to understanding Classical Greece
Warfare and Agriculture is a scholarly, yet very readable, analysis of the effects of war on agriculture and rural life in classical Greece.Drawing heavily on contemporary sources, Hanson clearly illustrates theinextricable connection between war and agriculture in the Greek world. With the notable exception of Sparta, Greek infantrymen typically werefarmers themselves who were often torn between their role as ravagers ofagriculture in enemy territory, and the need to tend to their owncrops.

Hanson's main premise is that many previous analyses ofagricultural devastation in classical Greece have overstated the severityof its effects.He points out the ravaging was usually a means to incitebattle with enemy infantry rather than an end in itself, and arguesconvincingly that the ravaging often associated with the seasonal cycle ofwarfare, while certainly contributing to hardship among the invadedpopulation, was far from complete and had relatively short-term effects. Drawing on his first-hand experience as a farmer, Hanson illustrates someof the practical difficulties with destroying the olive trees, vines, andgrains that formed the staples of Greek agriculture.In the course of hisanalysis, he brings to life the Greek countryside and its relationship tothe urban center of the polis.

Although Warfare and Agriculture will beof interest to any reader interested in the classical world, it is probablyof greatest interest to readers with some familiarity with Greek history. The extensive references to contemporary and modern sources, including manyrecent sources cited in the Updated Commentary to this revised edition,guide the interested reader to a wealth of additional information on thesubject. ... Read more

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Based on a collaborative research project - an exciting fruit of the Region's peace process - this book provides an in-depth examination and comparison of women's participation in agricultural production in four Middle-Eastern countries: Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Each of the country studies is set in context, providing an overview of the status of women in the national economy and society, and in education and law, before proceeding to analyze the status and roles of women in the rural sector. These up-to-date overviews are based on published and unpublished data, much of which is available for the first time in English. But the book can also be read as a fascinating story of the way gender is introduced into a complex political setting where "development work" is done. It offers a reflexive, critical examination of the very process of its own production and some general observations about the links between academic and development-centred discourses. ... Read more

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Agricultural production environments have been changing constantly as a result of factors such as shifts in government macroeconomic policies and climate change. There is a need to constantly test new possibilities and strategies to match changing environments. It may be difficult for scientists, with a formal approach to technology development, to keep up with constantly changing production environments and to provide agricultural technologies that would sustain farmers income levels. In this context the farmers indigenous knowledge, particularly in developing economies, is critical for tackling issues arising out of changing agricultural production environments. This volume emphasizes that demands for new agricultural sustainable technologies may not be realized merely by the application scientific knowledge, but would require a combination of scientific inputs and the indigenous knowledge of the farming community. ... Read more

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Dryland agriculture is of more consequence now than ever because the worlds dependence on food produced in dryland areas is even greater. In recognition of this, and the fact that global food supply is increasingly interconnected, this volume takes a world view of dryland production continent by continent. The initial chapters of the monograph address the principles that underlie all dryland farming, and are the basis for the following chapters that address dryland farming issues around the world.

Also available:

Irrigation of Agricultural Crops, Second Edition - ISBN 0891181628
Phosphorus: Agriculture and the Environment - ISBN 0891181571
Crops and Man, 2nd Edition - ISBN 0891181075

The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America are prominent international scientific societies headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. The Societies specialize in peer-reviewed, high-quality science titles for a wide variety of audiences.
Some of the many areas we publish in include:

-Soils Methods and Management
-Crop Development and Improvement
-Agrosystem Management and the Global Food Crisis
-Environmental Conservation and Climatology ... Read more