Summary - Selection 27

The Agricultural Crisis as a Crisis of Culture by Wendell Berry

What was once important and normal for farmers seems to have shifted. Once, farming was a lot more "hands on" where farmers could take their produce such as extra cream, eggs, and hens to a local market to sell. This was also a social event that could sustain the farmers. As technology and time went on, the "times" literally changed. Farms deteriorated due to mass farming techniques, and no longer were teenagers aiming to take over the family farm. Other paths were more appealing as everything "modernized". Large farms could properly sanitize the produce and the change in food production. Small farms could no longer sustain themselves as there would always be a larger farm. According to Berry, farming cannot be fragmented, but should remain a uniform discipline. Someone that is familiar and established with the land can succeed on a healthy farm and should not fear doing so. Simplifying farming and bringing down monetary value is also something that could aid in the success of a farmer, as the best are the ones that come with generations of experience that can care for the land, community, household, and person. Farming should be cooperative as opposed to competitive, as no matter what food is always needed and there should never be competition for it. Unity of agricultural practises could aid in the sustainability of regular organic farming, and to successfully compete with the mass of the "big" farms.