Download or read book The Culture of Wilderness written by Frieda Knobloch and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2000-11-09 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this innovative work of cultural and technological history, Frieda Knobloch describes how agriculture functioned as a colonizing force in the American West between 1862 and 1945. Using agricultural textbooks, USDA documents, and historical accounts of western settlement, she explores the implications of the premise that civilization progresses by bringing agriculture to wilderness. Her analysis is the first to place the trans-Mississippi West in the broad context of European and classical Roman agricultural history. Knobloch shows how western land, plants, animals, and people were subjugated in the name of cultivation and improvement. Illuminating the cultural significance of plows, livestock, trees, grasses, and even weeds, she demonstrates that discourse about agriculture portrays civilization as the emergence of a colonial, socially stratified, and bureaucratic culture from a primitive, feminine, and unruly wilderness. Specifically, Knobloch highlights the displacement of women from their historical role as food gatherers and producers and reveals how Native American land-use patterns functioned as a form of cultural resistance. Describing the professionalization of knowledge, Knobloch concludes that both social and biological diversity have suffered as a result of agricultural 'progress.'

Download or read book The Good Farmer written by Rob J.F. Burton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-13 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developed by leading authors in the field, this book offers a cohesive and definitive theorisation of the concept of the 'good farmer', integrating historical analysis, critique of contemporary applications of good farming concepts, and new case studies, providing a springboard for future research. The concept of the good farmer has emerged in recent years as part of a move away from attitude and economic-based understandings of farm decision-making towards a deeper understanding of culture and symbolism in agriculture. The Good Farmer shows why agricultural production is socially and culturally, as well as economically, important. It explores the history of the concept and its position in contemporary theory, as well as its use and meaning in a variety of different contexts, including landscape, environment, gender, society, and as a tool for resistance. By exploring the idea of the good farmer, it reveals the often-unforeseen assumptions implicit in food and agricultural policy that draw on culture, identity, and presumed notions of what is 'good'. The book concludes by considering the potential of the good farmer concept for addressing future, emerging issues in agriculture. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of food and agriculture and rural development, as well as professionals and policymakers involved in the food and agricultural industry.

Download or read book Culture and Agriculture written by Ernest L. Schusky and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1989 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Foreword to Culture and Agriculture, distinguished anthropologist John W. Bennett writes Dr. Schusky's book is welcome. It marks a point of maturity for anthropology's interest in agriculture, a distillation of decades of research and thought on the most important survival task facing humankind, the production of food. Although applauded by a specialist in the field, Schusky's book is specifically written for the general reader who is interested in agriculture. It offers a historical overview of the two major periods of agriculture--the Neolithic Revolution, which occurred when humans initally domesticated plants and animals, and the Neoclaric Revolution, which began the introduction of fossil fuel into agriculture in the twentieth century. Culture and Agriculture dramatizes the extensive changes that are occurring in modern agriculture due to the intensified use of fossil energy. The book details how the overdependence on fossil energy, with its looming exhaustion, is a major cause of pessimism about food production. The book also addresses the possible solutions to this scenario--conservation steps, an increase in the mix of solar energy, and an emphasis on human labor--which hold out hope for the future. Part I introduces the discovery or domestication of plants and animals (the Neolithic), along with the later use of irrigation, in order to show that most agricultural development, until the twentieth century, occurred between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago. Part II presents a brief survey of agricultural history which demonstrates that hunger had more to do with inequity in the social system than in the amounts of food produced. Agricultural history also emphasizes how little change occurred in agriculture from 5,000 years ago until the twentieth century, when the use of fossil energy revolutionized food production. In assessing the future of agricultural development, Schusky underscores the importance of economic and political policies that emphasize equity in distribution of wealth and government services. This book should appeal to the general reader interested in agriculture, rural sociology, or anthropology.

Download or read book The Unsettling of America written by Wendell Berry and published by Turtleback Books. This book was released on 1996-03-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical inquiry into the ways Americans have exploited and continue to exploit the land that sustains them, tracing attitudes toward and methods of farming from the eighteenth century to the present

Download or read book Scripture Culture and Agriculture written by Ellen F. Davis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-13 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the theology and ethics of land use, especially the practices of modern industrialized agriculture, in light of critical biblical exegesis. Nine interrelated essays explore the biblical writers' pervasive concern for the care of arable land against the background of the geography, social structures, and religious thought of ancient Israel. This approach consistently brings out neglected aspects of texts, both poetry and prose, that are central to Jewish and Christian traditions. Rather than seeking solutions from the past, Davis creates a conversation between ancient texts and contemporary agrarian writers; thus she provides a fresh perspective from which to view the destructive practices and assumptions that now dominate the global food economy. The biblical exegesis is wide-ranging and sophisticated; the language is literate and accessible to a broad audience.

Download or read book Culture and Agriculture written by Horace Miner and published by U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY. This book was released on 1949-01-01 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Banana Cultures written by John Soluri and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2021-03-09 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bananas, the most frequently consumed fresh fruit in the United States, have been linked to Miss Chiquita and Carmen Miranda, "banana republics," and Banana Republic clothing stores—everything from exotic kitsch, to Third World dictatorships, to middle-class fashion. But how did the rise in banana consumption in the United States affect the banana-growing regions of Central America? In this lively, interdisciplinary study, John Soluri integrates agroecology, anthropology, political economy, and history to trace the symbiotic growth of the export banana industry in Honduras and the consumer mass market in the United States. Beginning in the 1870s, when bananas first appeared in the U.S. marketplace, Soluri examines the tensions between the small-scale growers, who dominated the trade in the early years, and the shippers. He then shows how rising demand led to changes in production that resulted in the formation of major agribusinesses, spawned international migrations, and transformed great swaths of the Honduran environment into monocultures susceptible to plant disease epidemics that in turn changed Central American livelihoods. Soluri also looks at labor practices and workers' lives, changing gender roles on the banana plantations, the effects of pesticides on the Honduran environment and people, and the mass marketing of bananas to consumers in the United States. His multifaceted account of a century of banana production and consumption adds an important chapter to the history of Honduras, as well as to the larger history of globalization and its effects on rural peoples, local economies, and biodiversity.

Download or read book The Culture of Wilderness written by Frieda Knobloch and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this innovative work of cultural and technological history, Frieda Knobloch describes how agriculture functioned as a colonizing force in the American West between 1862 and 1945. Using agricultural textbooks, USDA documents, and historical accounts of

Download or read book Religion and Sustainable Agriculture written by Todd LeVasseur and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2016-10-21 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Distinct practices of eating are at the heart of many of the world's faith traditions -- from the Christian Eucharist to Muslim customs of fasting during Ramadan to the vegetarianism and asceticism practiced by some followers of Hinduism and Buddhism. What we eat, how we eat, and whom we eat with can express our core values and religious devotion more clearly than verbal piety. In this wide-ranging collection, eminent scholars, theologians, activists, and lay farmers illuminate how religious beliefs influence and are influenced by the values and practices of sustainable agriculture. Together, they analyze a multitude of agricultural practices for their contributions to healthy, ethical living and environmental justice. Throughout, the contributors address current critical issues, including global trade agreements, indigenous rights to land and seed, and the effects of postcolonialism on farming and industry. Covering indigenous, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish perspectives, this groundbreaking volume makes a significant contribution to the study of ethics and agriculture.

Download or read book The Georgia Peach written by Thomas Okie and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-11-22 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the significance of the peach as a cultural icon and viable commodity in the American South.

Download or read book The Unsettling of America written by Wendell Berry and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its publication in 1977, The Unsettling of America has been recognized as a classic of American letters. In it, Wendell Berry argues that good farming is a cultural and spiritual discipline. Today’s agribusiness, however, takes farming out of its cultural context and away from families. As a result, we as a nation are more estranged from the land—from the intimate knowledge, love, and care of it. Sadly, his arguments and observations are more relevant than ever. Although “this book has not had the happy fate of being proved wrong,” Berry writes, there are people working “to make something comely and enduring of our life on this earth.” Wendell Berry is one of those people, writing and working, as ever, with passion, eloquence, and conviction.

Download or read book The Sociology of Food and Agriculture written by Michael Carolan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-12 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this second edition of The Sociology of Food and Agriculture, students are provided with a substantially revised and updated introductory text to this emergent field. The book begins with the recent development of agriculture under capitalism and neo-liberal regimes, and the transformation of farming and peasant agriculture from a small-scale, family-run way of life to a globalized system. Topics such as the global hunger and obesity challenges, GM foods, and international trade and subsidies are assessed as part of the world food economy. The final section concentrates on themes of sustainability, food security, and food sovereignty. The book concludes on a positive note, examining alternative agri-food movements aimed at changing foodscapes at levels from the local to the global. With increased coverage of the financialization of food, food and culture, gender, ethnicity and justice, food security, and food sovereignty, the book is perfect for students with little or no background in sociology and is also suitable for more advanced courses as a comprehensive primer. All chapters include learning objectives, suggested discussion questions, and recommendations for further reading to aid student learning.

Download or read book Farming for Us All written by Michael Mayerfeld Bell and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2024-02-20 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change. Habitat loss. Soil erosion. Groundwater depletion. Toxins in our food. Inhumane treatment of farm animals. Increasing farm worker exploitation. Hunger and malnutrition in the midst of plenty. What will it take for farmers in the United States to embrace sustainable practices? Michael Mayerfeld Bell’s Farming for Us All first tackled this question twenty years ago, providing crucial insight into how the structure of US agriculture created this situation and exploring, by contrast, the practices of farmers who are working together to radically change how they think, learn, and grow. This updated edition of his now-classic work reflects on the lessons learned over the past two decades. Constrained by an oppressive nexus of markets, regulations, subsidies, and technology, farmers find themselves undermining their own economic and social security as well as the security of the land. Bell turns to Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), that state’s largest sustainable-agriculture group. He traces how PFI creates an agriculture that engages others—farmers, researchers, officials, and consumers—in a common conversation about what agriculture could look like. Through dialogue, PFI members crossbreed knowledge, discovering pragmatic solutions to help crops grow in ways that sustain families, communities, societies, economies, and environments. Farming for Us All makes the case that for sustainable farming to flourish, new social relations are as important to cultivate as new crops. This book is necessary—and hopeful—reading for anyone concerned about the present and future of food and farming.

Download or read book Agri Culture written by Jules Pretty and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Something is wrong with our agriculture and food systems. Despite great progress in increasing productivity in the last century, hundreds of millions of people remain hungry and malnourished. Can nothing be done or is it time for the expansion of another sort of agriculture, founded on more ecological principles, and in harmony with people, their societies and cultures?; This work draws on many stories of successful transformation. A sustainable agriculture making the best of nature and people's knowledge and collective capacities has been showing increasingly good promise. Everyone is in favour of sustainability, yet few go seriously beyond the fine words. The text shows that there is no alternative to radical reform of national agricultural, rural and food policies and institutions - the time has come for the next agricultural revolution.

Download or read book Robert Cole s World written by Lois Green Carr and published by Omohundro Institute and Unc Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Cole's World: Agriculture and Society in Early Maryland

Download or read book Incorporating Cultures Role in the Food and Agricultural Sciences written by Florence V. Dunkel and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Incorporating Cultures' Role in the Food and Agricultural Sciences addresses the practical needs of the professors, administrators and students who often face challenges of working together with Indigenous peoples with whom they have no prior experience. Missed communication, failed projects and unrealistic goals are daily realities. Academia and industry often encounter frustration in recruiting and retaining Native American students and other ethnicities. This text is a guide for anyone working in the food or agriculture disciplines or industries, particularly for those working with people of a culture different from one’s own. Comprehensive, full awareness of one’s own culture is a prerequisite for effective teaching and learning within another culture. This book is replete with stories, examples and peer-refereed journal articles to help build awareness. These stories, examples and articles from multiple voices are placed over a basic underlying framework that is summed up in the title of the book itself. Provides compelling, well-referenced practical ways to understand the cultural component of behavior related to food and agriculture Explores behavior in setting policy, developing curricula, interacting with communities and in making choices as a consumer Connects the dots between food deserts, the disgust factor and the world’s grand challenges Includes lessons learned and new approaches in food and agricultural sciences using transdisciplinary, experiential action research methods Contains practical, state-of-the-art methodologies and diagrams to get started improving intercultural competency, inclusivity and internationalization of food and agricultural sciences

Download or read book Culture and Agriculture written by Horace Mitchell Miner and published by . This book was released on 1949 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: