The Essential Agrarian Reader: The Future of Culture, Community, and the Land

255 Pages·2003·1.7 MB·English

by  Norman Wirzba

The Essential Agrarian Reader

The Essential
Agrarian Reader
The Future of Culture,
Community, and the Land
EDITED BY
NORMAN WIRZBA
Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 2003 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State
University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University,
Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky
University. All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
Photography: Cover: Terraced Plowing, Saline County, Kansas, September 1990, © Terry Evans;
Frontispiece and page 99 © Gregory Conniff; pages 21 and 189, © Nina Danforth.
07 06 05 04 03 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The essential agrarian reader : the future of culture, community, and
the land / edited by Norman Wirzba.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8131-2285-6 (Hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Agriculture—Economic aspects. 2. Agriculture—Environmental aspects. 3. Agriculture—Social
aspects. 4. Human ecology. 5. Agriculture—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Wirzba, Norman.
HD1433.E87 2003
338.1—dc21 2003008808
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
For Wendell Berry
mentor and friend
Contents
Foreword
Barbara Kingsolver
Introduction: Why Agrarianism Matters—Even to Urbanites
Norman Wirzba
PART 1: AGRARIAN PRINCIPLES AND PRIORITIES
1. The Agrarian Standard
Wendell Berry
2. The Resettling of America
Brian Donahue
3. The Mind-Set of Agrarianism . . . New and Old
Maurice Telleen
4. Sustainable Economic Development: Definitions, Principles, Policies
Herman E. Daly
5. Placing the Soul: An Agrarian Philosophical Principle
Norman Wirzba
PART 2: ASSESSING OUR SITUATION
6. The Current State of Agriculture: Does It Have a Future?
Frederick Kirschenmann
7. Globalization and the War against Farmers and the Land
Vandana Shiva
8. The Agrarian Mind: Mere Nostalgia or a Practical Necessity?
Wes Jackson
9. All Flesh Is Grass: A Hopeful Look at the Future of Agrarianism
Gene Logsdon
10. The Uses of Prophecy
David W. Orr
PART 3: PUTTING AGRARIANISM TO WORK
11. Country and City: The Common Vision of Agrarians and New Urbanists
Benjamin E. Northrup and Benjamin J. Bruxvoort Lipscomb
12. New Agrarians: Local Innovators
Susan Witt
13. The Legal and Legislative Front: The Fight Against Industrial Agriculture
Hank Graddy
14. Private Property Rights in Land: An Agrarian View
Eric T. Freyfogle
15. Going to Work
Wendell Berry
Further Reading
Contributors
Index