The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture PDF
Preview The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture
preface i The Rise of Women faRmeRs and susTainable agRiculTuRe ii preface preface iii The Rise of Women farmers and sustainable agriculture Carolyn E. Sachs, Mary E. Barbercheck, Kathryn J. Brasier, Nancy Ellen Kiernan, and Anna Rachel Terman UNivERSiTy of iowA PRESS, iowA CiTy iv preface University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242 Copyright © 2016 by the University of Iowa Press www.uiowapress.org Printed in the United States of America Design by Teresa W. Wingfield No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. All reasonable steps have been taken to contact copyright holders of material used in this book. The publisher would be pleased to make suitable arrangements with any whom it has not been possible to reach. The University of Iowa Press is a member of Green Press Initiative and is committed to preserving natural resources. Printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sachs, Carolyn E., 1950– author. The rise of women farmers and sustainable agriculture / Carolyn E. Sachs, Mary E. Barbercheck, Kathryn J. Brasier, Nancy Ellen Kiernan, and Anna Rachel Terman. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60938-415-9 (pbk), ISBN 978-1-60938-416-6 (ebk) 1. Women farmers. 2. Sustainable agriculture. I. Title. HD6077.S23 2016 338.1082—dc23 2015033642 preface v conTenTs Preface Planting a Seed vii 1. A New Crop: Women Farmers in a Changing Agriculture 1 2. Tilling the Soil for Change: Claiming the Farmer Identity 30 3. Sowing the Seeds of Change: Innovative Paths to Land, Labor, and Capital 50 4. Reaping a New Harvest: Women Farmers Redefining Agriculture, Community, and Sustainability 64 5. Constructing a New Table: Women Farmers Negotiate Agricultural Institutions and Organizations, Creating New Agricultural Networks 95 6. From the Ground Up: A Feminist Agrifood Systems Theory 140 Appendix Methodology and Data Collection: Linking Research to Pedagogy, Action, and Policy 149 Funding Sources 161 Notes 163 Bibliography 171 Index 185 vi preface preface vii PReface Planting a seed Our first step in this journey began in the living room of a woman’s farmhouse in Pennsylvania, where a group of women, which included farm- ers, educators, scientists, agriculture service providers involved in various aspects of sustainable agriculture, and several authors of this book, dis- cussed the needs, possibilities, and challenges of women involved in agri- culture. The energy in the room that day was electric—full of power, confi- dence, ideas, frustrations, dreams, and visions. We shared stories, laughed together, and exchanged practical information about an endless array of top- ics: extending the growing season for vegetables, raising grass-fed livestock and poultry, dealing with agriculture salesmen, and changing the world. Most of all, everyone present experienced the euphoria of spending a few hours sharing our stories with other women farmers and our supporters, and we were ready for more. At about the same time, several of the authors worked with women’s agri- cultural networks in Vermont and Maine to plan the first national Women in Sustainable Agriculture Conference. More than twenty women, mostly farmers and several academics (and one baby), filled two maxi-vans to make the twelve-hour drive from Pennsylvania to Vermont. This was no boring road trip, but rather a spirit-filled adventure and intense time of sharing sto- ries, giving advice, and making long-term connections. The conversations in the vans were stimulating, entertaining, and virtually nonstop. We all learned a great deal both at the conference and on tours of Vermont farms led by local women farmers. The Pennsylvania contingent of farmers decided to hold the next Women in Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Pennsylva- nia. As we crossed the mountains on our way home, we came upon a field where multiple flocks of snow geese majestically gathered for a meal before flying south. Coincidently, we had just heard a talk at the conference from viii preface wiSA Conference Participants: Ann Stone, Maggie and Claire Robertson, Mary Cottone, Maryann fra- zier, Amber Lockawich, Susan Alexander, Carolyn Sachs, Sandy Miller, Gabbriel frigm, Barb Kline, Emily Cooke, Lyn Garling, Linda Moist, Clair orner. Photograph by PA-wAgN staff. Cherokee activist Pamela Kingfisher about how leaders in her tribe rotated much like the geese: when the lead goose tires, another goose seamlessly flies into the lead, then the next, and the next. At the very beginning of our new journey together, the women farmers in the vans decided we would lead like geese to reach our desired futures. Inspired by these two experiences, this book captures the energy, vision, struggles, and successes of women farmers engaged in sustainable farming. Over the course of ten years, the authors of this book collaborated, cooper- ated, and engaged with women farmers to accomplish many actions: form a vibrant network, research the challenges and opportunities for women farmers, facilitate farmer-led educational programs, meet women farmers from other regions and countries, support each other in our efforts, and learn from each other as we try to create a more environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially just food and agriculture system. preface ix Through our work with women farmers, several of the authors of this book formed a research and outreach team to understand the barriers and opportunities of women farmers and to build an educational program based on our research findings to meet their needs. We started doing the research reported in this book for very practical reasons—to see what information, resources, and activities women farmers needed to succeed. Over time, we wove together research, networking, and educational pro- grams for women farmers while contributing to academic conversations on gender and agriculture. As researchers, we all are currently, or were pre- viously, faculty members and graduate students in land-grant universities in colleges of agriculture. Even though serving the needs of agriculture is at the foundation of the land-grant mission, we have been challenged by those beholden to a traditional view of farming because of our research and outreach with women in sustainable farming. We have been asked mul- tiple times why we focus on women farmers and if they are really farm- ers. One would expect that in an academic setting, in an era of diversity training, institutional civil rights reviews, and general political correctness around the issue of diversity, we would have progressed beyond the need to explain women’s contributions to agriculture or any profession perceived as the traditional province of men. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and even among our agricultural colleagues, women farmers are still “invisible” (Sachs 1996). Hence, we are continually reminded of the need to learn of the challenges and achievements of these women and the need to help them communicate these challenges and achievements to others so that they can be appreciated, recognized, and acted upon. Given the practical foundation of our research and our commitment to advocating for women farmers, this book reflects a feminist praxis rooted in values of equality and justice in agrifood systems. This book tells the stories of the women farmers who continually inspire us with their creativity, commitment, and generosity of spirit. We tell their stories through their voices while, at the same time, contributing to scholarship on gender and agriculture and proposing a feminist agrifood systems theory (FAST). Our ultimate goal is to facilitate social and insti- tutional change toward a more socially just agriculture and food system, and this book is one of our contributions toward that goal. We present the broad social and institutional contexts related to gender and agriculture in
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