In the June issue of Ode Magazine, there's an article by Diane Daniel titled "Farmers as Change Agents." In the piece she details a different population of folks who have become interested in farming, and it's a type of agriculture that goes against the agribusiness-induced, monoculture farming of soybeans, corn, etc. If you've read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, you probably have a good inkling of what Daniel writes about.
Since Ode is an international publication based out of the Netherlands, some of the examples are from Europe, but the sustainable agriculture program at the University of Kentucky is featured briefly in the article. Of course, there are other alternative agriculture programs developing at other universities across the nation since some professors of agriculture see the current food system as ecologically and economically bankrupt.
It's nice to read an article that has a positive take on farming since I remember my uncle Raymond, a farmer who raised cattle and grew soybeans and corn in northeastern Missouri, telling me emphatically that "If you want a good job, being a farmer ain't it."
What my uncle was talking about then is what George Pyle discusses in his fine book Raise Less Corn, More Hell.
The article I've linked exemplifies the magazine's mantra of being "for intelligent optimists," but Pyle's book is required reading for intelligent pessimists.
No comments:
Post a Comment