The American Farm Bureau Federation was organized on November 12, 1919, in Chicago, Illinois, by Farm Bureau leaders from 34 states. A declaration at the beginning of the convention said, "This country needs the sound, conservative common-sense of the farmers expressed in a collective and organized way." The newly-minted farm organization gave farmers and ranchers a voice and a seat at the table with the powerful economic interests of the day--business, manufacturing, railroads and labor. American Farm Bureau is the national advocate for farm and ranch families through good times and bad in the belief that a more prosperous agriculture contributes to the well-being of all Americans
The section on farm worker movements looks mainly at the agribusiness economy of California, beginning with farm worker mobilization in the depression era and the emergence of such prominent unions as the Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union and the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America. The authors extensively examine the United Farm Workers (UFW) activism that began in 1965 under the late Cesar Chavez and culminated in 1975 with the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act. The achievements of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee in Ohio and Michigan during the 1980s and early 1990s is also compared with the relative failures of the UFW during that same time period, and the authors pay particular attention to the "control issues" that have been crucial among farm worker demands.
“Essays from staff on 15 farms . . . illustrate the trials, tribulations and sheer joys of establishing and maintaining such enterprises.” —USA Today Originally published in 2011, Fields of Learning remains the single best resource for students, faculty, and administrators involved in starting or supporting campus farms. Featuring detailed profiles of fifteen diverse student farms on college and university campuses across North America, the book also serves as a history of the student farm movement, showing how the idea of campus farms has come in and out of fashion over the past century and how the tenacious work of students, faculty, and other campus community members has upheld and reimagined the objectives of student farming over time. Ranging in size from less than an acre to hundreds of acres, supplying food to campus dining halls or community food banks, and hosting scientific research projects or youth education programs, student farms highlight the interdisciplinary richness and multifunctionality of agriculture, supporting academic work across a range of fields while simultaneously building community engagement and stimulating critical conversations about environmental and social justice. As institutions of higher learning face new challenges linked to the global climate crisis and public health emergency, this book holds continued relevance for readers in North America and beyond. “A timely and hopeful book.” —Jason Peters, editor of Wendell Berry: Life and Work “The opportunity for students to spend time learning on campus farms is not just a good idea—it should be mandatory.” —Gary Hirshberg, President & CEO, Stonyfield Farm “An excellent book, useful for anyone interested in the past, or the future, of the student farm movement.” —Journal of Agricultural & Food Information
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1953.
In May 1967, internationally renowned activist Fannie Lou Hamer purchased forty acres of land in the Mississippi Delta, launching the Freedom Farms Cooperative (FFC). A community-based rural and economic development project, FFC would grow to over 600 acres, offering a means for local sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and domestic workers to pursue community wellness, self-reliance, and political resistance. Life on the cooperative farm presented an alternative to the second wave of northern migration by African Americans--an opportunity to stay in the South, live off the land, and create a healthy community based upon building an alternative food system as a cooperative and collective effort. Freedom Farmers expands the historical narrative of the black freedom struggle to embrace the work, roles, and contributions of southern Black farmers and the organizations they formed. Whereas existing scholarship generally views agriculture as a site of oppression and exploitation of black people, this book reveals agriculture as a site of resistance and provides a historical foundation that adds meaning and context to current conversations around the resurgence of food justice/sovereignty movements in urban spaces like Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, and New Orleans.
The Greenhorns are a community of more than 5,000 young farmers and activists committed to producing and advocating for food grown with vision and respect for the earth. This book, edited by three of the group’s leading members, comprises 50 original essays by new farmers who write about their experiences in the field from a wide range of angles, both practical and inspirational. Funny and sad, serious and light-hearted, these essays touch on everything from financing and machinery to family, community building, and social change.
Farming for Us All gives us the opportunity to explore the possibilities for social, environmental, and economic change that practical, dialogic agriculture presents.
