wendell berry, gary paul nabhan, and barbara kingsolver

148 Pages·2015·3.27 MB·English

by  Hazan Gençay Tonga

Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences
Department of American Culture and Literature

THE LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT IN THE WORKS OF THREE
AMERICAN NATURE WRITERS: WENDELL BERRY, GARY PAUL
NABHAN, AND BARBARA KINGSOLVER

Hazan Gençay Tonga

Master's Thesis

Ankara, 2015

THE LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT IN THE WORKS OF THREE AMERICAN NATURE
WRITERS: WENDELL BERRY, GARY PAUL NABHAN, AND BARBARA
KINGSOLVER

Hazan Gençay Tonga

Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences
Department of American Culture and Literature

Master's Thesis

Ankara, 2015

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are a number of people to whom I am greatly indebted for their help in the procees of
writing this thesis.
First, I will be forever grateful to my thesis advisor Prof. Dr. Ufuk Özdağ who shared her
academic expertise on environmental literature and her love of nature. I will never forget
her kindness and sincerity. This thesis could not have been written without her invaluable
guidance and support.
I am indebted to Prof. Dr. Nevin Özkan, Assist. Prof. Dr. Cem Kılıçaslan, Assist. Prof. Dr.
Ayça Germen, and Dr. Pieter Verstraete for their great help, understanding, guidance, and
support.
I would like to thank the academic staff of the Department of American Culture and
Literature for making my graduate education unforgettable through their understanding and
their sharing of knowledge in the field. I am especially indebted to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilge
Mutluay Çetintaş in whose graduate class I got acquainted with food writing.
I am also thankful to my dearest friends Bahar Raşa and Tuba Rağbetli for their unending
support and warm friendship.
And above all, I am grateful to my family for their unconditional love and support. This
thesis is especially dedicated to my husband, Bilal Tonga, who lovingly supports my plan
of having a small farm where I hope to continue my studies on sustainable farming and the
local food movement.
iv

ÖZET
TONGA, GENÇAY Hazan. Amerikalı Üç Doğa Yazarı Wendell Berry, Gary Paul Nabhan
ve Barbara Kingsolver’ın Eserlerinde Yerel Beslenme Hareketi, Yüksek Lisans Tezi,
Ankara, 2015.
Bu tez, gerek çevre gerek insanoğlu için endüstriyel tarımın yıkıcı etkilerine karşı alternatif
bir çözüm olan yerel beslenme hareketinin önemi üzerinde durmaktadır. Amerikan doğa
yazarları Wendell Berry, Gary Paul Nabhan ve Barbara Kingsolver‘ın kaygı ve amaçlarına
benzer şekilde, tezin de temel hedefi gıda üretimi ve tüketiminde bireysel seçimler yaparak
radikal bir değişikliğin gerçekleşebileceğini göstermektir. Bu yüzden, söz konusu üç
yazarın eserlerinde de görüleceği üzere, endüstriyel tarımın yıkıcı etkilerine karşı en etkili
önlem tüketicilerin çevre dostu bireysel seçimleridir.
Bu çalışma, endüstriyel tarımın toprak ve insan üzerindeki zararlı etkilerini inceler ve tek
endişesi ekonomik kazanç olduğu için doğayı yalnızca bir meta olarak gören tarım
endüstrisi şirketlerini eleştirir. Endüstriyel tarımın en büyük silahı olan Yeşil Tarım
Devrim‘i gıda güvenliği için bir tehdit unsuru haline gelmiş ve yerel çiftçilerin cömert
tarım arazilerine el koymuştur. Gıda güvenliği tehdit edildikçe, GDO (Genetiği
Değiştirilmiş Organizmalar), patent ve etiketleme sorunları da ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu
çalışmada, bütün bu sorunlara karşı yerel beslenme hareketi ve sürdürülebilir tarım
teknikleriyle gıda güvenliğini yeniden elde etmenin ve çevreyi korumanın mümkün olduğu
vurgulanmaktadır. Ayıca yerel beslenme hareketi, okuyucuları gıda tüketiminde etik
seçimler yapmaya ve gelecek nesiller için sürdürülebilir gıda kaynakları bırakmaya davet
eder. Yerel beslenme hareketinin bir parçası haline gelmek ve çevreyi korumak için
bireysel seçimler yapmak, bu üç doğa yazarının öne sürdüğü gibi günümüzde büyük önem
taşımaktadır.
Anahtar Sözcükler
Wendell Berry, Gary Paul Nabhan, Barbara Kingsolver, Yerel Beslenme Hareketi,
Sürdürülebilir Tarım, Endüstriyel Tarım, Gıda Güvenliği, GDO, Atalık Tohum, Toplum
Destekli Tarım.
v

ABSTRACT
TONGA, GENÇAY Hazan. The Local Food Movement in the Works of Three American
Nature Writers: Wendell Berry, Gary Paul Nabhan, and Barbara Kingsolver, Master's
Thesis, Ankara, 2015.
This thesis focuses on the importance of the local food movement that is an alternative
solution against the destructive effects of industrial agriculture both for the environment
and human beings. The main target of this thesis, similar to the concerns and aims of
American nature writers Wendell Berry, Gary Paul Nabhan, and Barbara Kingsolver, is to
show that a radical change can be made by individual choices in food production and
consumption. Thus, as it is seen in the works of these three authors, the most effective
measures against the devastating effects of industrial agriculture are consumers‘
environmentally friendly individual choices.
This study analyzes the harmful effects of industrial agriculture on land and people and it
criticizes profit-oriented agribusiness companies which regard nature as a commodity. The
Green Revolution, as the biggest weapon of the industrial agriculture, has become a threat
for food security and has taken the bountiful farmlands of the local farmers. As food
security has been threatened, the problems of GMO, patent, and labeling have emerged. In
view of these problems, this study attempts to show that it is possible to regain food
security and to protect the environment by the help of the local food movement and
sustainable farming techniques. Besides, the local food movement invites the readers to
have ethical choices in food consumption and to leave sustainable food resources for future
generations. Thus, it is highly important for our time to become a part of the local food
movement and to have individual choices in order to protect the environment as Wendell
Berry, Gary Paul Nabhan, and Barbara Kingsolver assert.
Key Words
Wendell Berry, Gary Paul Nabhan, Barbara Kingsolver, The Local Food Movement,
Sustainable Agriculture, Industrial Agriculture, Food Security, GMO, Heirloom Seeds,
Community Supported Agriculture.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
KABUL VE ONAY…………………………………………………………………………………..i
BİLDİRİM……………………………………………………………………………………………ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………..……………………..iii
ÖZET………………………………………………………………………………………………...iv
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………….……………………v
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………........................................vi
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………1
0.1. The Idea of Farming in American History and Farm-Raised Intellectuals…… ….4
0.2. Emerson as a Supporter of the Farmer and Thoreau as a Farmer ……………….…6
0.3. The Idea of Freedom, the Components of Food Writing, and Ethical Eating… ....9
CHAPTER I: MECHANIZATION OF FOOD PRODUCTION AND ITS COSTS……………….18
1.1. Industrial Agriculture: Destructive ―Food‖ Production …...……………........…19
1.2. A Critique of Agribusiness in Berry's Works …………………...……….................23
1.3. Nabhan's Analysis of the New Farmer………………………………………............30
1.4. Kingsolver and Livestock Fact……………………………………………………….36
CHAPTER II: HOW TO SUSTAIN FOOD SECURITY: GMO VS. HEIRLOOM SEEDS……....44
2.1. Food Security: Health, Sufficiency, and Sustainability…………...……………...46
2.2. The Problems of GMOs, Patent, and Organic Foods............................................49
2.3. Seed Banks, Heirloom Seeds, and ―Vegetannual‖........................................... ........58
CHAPTER III: THE LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY……….……..…...68
3.1. Berry's Methods Against Environmental Problems……… ...…………….. .......71
3.2. Nabhan's Local Market, Food Miles, and Community Supported Agriculture ....82
3.3. ―Place-Based Perceptual Ecology‖ and the Local Food Movement ……………..91
CHAPTER IV: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD AND CULTURE…………………....97
4.1. Americans' ―Food Culture‖ …………………………………………………………..99
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4.2. Cultural Diversity, Food Diversity, and the Slow Food Movement………….....106
4.3. Kitchen as a Hearth………………………………………….……………………….111
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………….…………………...115
WORKS CITED………………………………………………………...…….……….……….....126
APPENDIX 1: Originality Reports……………………………………………………….134
APPENDIX 2: Exemption Reports……………………………………………………….136