Author(s)

Publication Year

Publisher

ISBN: 9780865717732

Categories: , , , ,

 
View more details about this title
on the publisher's website:

Emergent Agriculture

Farming, Sustainability and the Return of the Local Economy

Long embraced by corporations who are driven only by the desire for profit, industrial agriculture wastes precious resources and spews millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year, exacerbating climate change and threatening the very earth and water on which we depend. However, this dominant system, from which Americans obtain most of their food, is being supplanted by a new paradigm.

The Emergent Agriculture is a collection of fourteen thematic essays on sustainability viewed through the lens of farming. Arguing that industrial food production is incompatible with the realities of nature, science and ethics, this lyrical narrative makes the case for a locally based food system.

Contributors

Gary S. Kleppel

Gary Kleppel is a professor of Biology at the State University of New York at Albany where he focuses on sustainable agriculture, conservation-based grazing, and the ecology of human-dominated landscapes. He and his wife Pam are owners of Longfield Farm, where they produce grass-fed lamb, wool, free-range chickens and eggs, and artisanal breads. As part of the farm's educational mission, the Kleppels demonstrate sustainable farming practices and the importance of including ethics in food production to more than 100 visitors annually.

Chapter Title Contents Contributors Pages Year Price

Preview

Today’s shifting agricultural paradigm is doing much the same thing. It is changing the way we produce food, how and where we get it, and what it does to our health, our pocket books, and … 5 $0.50

Preview

The emergent agriculture is grounded in the philosophies of sustainability, local production, and the values of small-scale, family farming. The emergent agriculture values the crafts of the land … 11 $1.10

Preview

The paradox of agriculture. Our image of what we want farming to be and the reality of what it has become. The words unsustainable, dangerous, inhumane, dehumanizing, and toxic are barely … 6 $0.60

Preview

This chapter is primarily concerned with the ways in which farms subsidize us. First, most of the farmers who fall into this category of subsidizers own small to medium-sized farms, and they … 9 $0.90

Preview

Sustainability is a set of principles that focus on three fundamental elements of durable societies. They are: environmental stewardship, economic viability, and ethical behavior. These elements, … 6 $0.60

Preview

Among the most complex and contentious issues surrounding the debate about what is sustainable and what is not, is the question of meat. Can it be produced sustainably? Should we eat it? As an … 3 $0.30

Preview

For the farmer, biodiversity is both domestic and wild, and a farm can be a place where biodiversity flourishes or from which it is excluded. The way farmers relate to biodiversity distinguishes … 14 $1.40

Preview

We can and should energize our modern food production system with solar and other renewable energy sources, as has been done for most of the past 10,000 years. To be sure, the sun will always … 12 $1.20

Preview

Farmers have played roulette with the weather for 10,000 years. They know the risks and they live with them. They tend to believe that if the weather beats them down this year, things will be … 15 $1.50

Preview

Consumers must recognize their responsibility to reward craftsmanship and hard work with patronage, and be willing to pay a fair price for their food. Consumers are actively seeking out … 10 $1.00

Preview

Profitability is determined in the market. Consumers must value products sufficiently to pay a price that exceeds the cost of production and transportation. Price is determined by myriad factors, … 15 $1.50

Preview

Slow Money argues for the diversion of capital from global markets to local markets – to farms, farmers’ markets, and restaurants within one’s own foodshed. Slow Money creates … 6 $0.60

Preview

The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model is transformative. It changes the way farmers farm, the way markets function, and the way consumers relate to the production chain. The CSA model … 5 $0.50

Preview

The shifting agricultural paradigm requires that every region of the country produce the diversity of products that it is capable of producing — that monoculture and exclusive production … 15 $1.50

Preview

Food production becomes exceptionally sustainable when profitability ceases to be the singular mission of the farm, and becomes instead a part of a “triple bottom line.” As important … 8 $0.80