Civic agriculture : reconnecting farm, food, and community /
Thomas A. Lyson.
- Medford, Mass. : Lebanon, NH : Tufts University Press ; University Press of New England, 2004.
- xv, 136 pages ; 22 cm.
- Civil society .
- Civil society. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 121-131) and index.
Introduction: Community agriculture and local food systems -- From subsistence to production: How American agriculture was made modern -- Going global: The industrialization and consolidation of agriculture and food production in the United States -- The global supply chain -- Toward a civic agriculture -- Civic agriculture and community agriculture development -- From commodity agriculture to civic agriculture.
Lyson describes how, in the course of a hundred years, a small-scale, diversified system of farming became an industrialized system of production and also how this industrialized system has gone global. He argues that farming in the United States was modernized by employing the same techniques and strategies that transformed the manufacturing sector from a system of craft production to one of mass production. Viewing agriculture as just another industrial sector led to transformations in both the production and the processing of food. As small farmers and food processors were forced to expand, merge with larger operations, or go out of business, they became increasingly disconnected from the surrounding communities. Lyson enumerates the shortcomings of the current agriculture and food systems as they relate to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. He then introduces the concept of community problem solving and offers empirical evidence and concrete examples to show that a re-localization of the food production system is underway.
1584654139 9781584654131 1584654147 9781584654148
2004005364
012967740 Uk
Agriculture--Economic aspects--United States. Agriculture--Social aspects--United States. Agriculture, Cooperative--United States. Community development--United States.