Farming for Us All: Practical Agriculture and the Cultivation of Sustainability

Farming for Us All by Michael Mayerfeld Bells explores the challenges faced by farmers in the United States and the need to embrace sustainable practices. He highlights the practices of Practical Farmers of Iowa, the largest sustainable-agriculture group in the state, and emphasizes the importance of new social relations for sustainable farming to flourish.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 334 pages
Publication date: 19 March 2024
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

Climate change, habitat loss, soil erosion, groundwater depletion, toxins in our food, inhumane treatment of farm animals, and increasing farm worker exploitation are just a few of the pressing issues facing farmers in the United States today. These challenges have profound implications for the health and well-being of both farmers and their communities, as well as for the broader food system.

In his book "Farming for Us All," Michael Mayerfeld Bells explores the complex web of factors that have led to this situation and offers a roadmap for farmers to embrace sustainable practices. Bells 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), the state's largest sustainable-agriculture group, to explore 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.

In conclusion, the challenges facing farmers in the United States are complex and multifaceted. However, by embracing sustainable practices and working together to create new social relations, farmers can help to build a more resilient and sustainable food system for the present and future.

Weight: 492g
Dimension: 155 x 235 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780271097480
Edition number: Twentieth Anniversary Edition