The Fate of Family Farming: Variations on an American Idea

by Ronald Jager

The Fate of Family Farming employs a hands-on approach, with much local New England detail, in its exploration of the history and future of American family farming as an idea and as an ongoing way of life. Early chapters situate family farming within American history, beginning with Jamestown and Plymouth, continuing with Jefferson and Emerson and others, and including the technological transformations during the twentieth century. An extended chapter deals with the idea of "agrarianism," and considers in detail the work of Louis Bromfield, Victor Hanson, and Wendell Berry. The middle section of the book opens a window on present-day farming with detailed portraits of four farms devoted, respectively, to the production of maple syrup, eggs and corn, milk, and apples. The author takes the reader to the barns and fields of these farms, introduces the farm families, helps the reader taste the syrup and corn and smell the silage and―ultimately enables others to see the economic and ecological challenges that farmers today face, and to consider their strategies for survival. In the last portion of the book the author provides a very accessible examination of the role of farm technology and global economics, including the many ironies of farming "success," followed by a chapter that balances the threat and promise of biotechnology, and a concluding analysis of the current struggle for "the soul of agriculture."

Genres: History, Nonfiction

268 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Writer and former Yale philosophy professor Ronald Jager grew up on his family’s farm in McBain, Michigan, which he chronicled in his popular memoir Eighty Acres: Elegy for a Family Farm. After graduating from Northern Michigan Christian High School and moving on to Calvin College, Jager earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University.

He left a teaching career to become a writer, penning essays for publications such as Harper’s Magazine, in addition to books on farm life, including The Fate of Family Farming: Variations on an American Idea and Last House on the Road: Excursions Into a Rural Past. A New Hampshire resident for many decades, Jager has written books and essays on that state’s history.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is uneven, dated, and mostly mediocre. It can be divided into three parts. The first is a historical and sociological treatment of the mythos of the American family farm. Other books have treated the subject better, and Jager reviews most of them. He owes a lot to Wendell Berry, but Wendell said much of what he said first and better. He also draws upon Jefferson, de Crevecouer, Emerson, Thoreau, Louis Bromfield and Victor Davis Hanson. The prose goes from plodding to florid and has a certain elegiac tone.

The second part contains case studies of various New Hampshire farms. This is more a journalistic than a sociological approach. The sketches aren't bad, but they really don't add much other than local color. The final section is about the future, which is terribly dated and not well thought through. The final chapter is stuffed with platitudes with a somewhat contrived dichotomy between "The System" and "The Resistance". I was interested in his treatment of organic agriculture. He was writing a short time after the implementation of the USDA's National Organic Program and much of what he had to say has been overtaken by events. The same could be said about his writing on the subject of genetic engineering.

Family farms are inherently traditional and reactionary. The author acknowledges the paradox of progressives supporting the family farm over the corporate industrial model, but really doesn't offer a solid way to build a stable coalition that would keep the family farm and rural communities viable. New England has done better in that regard than the rest of the country, but everywhere is feeling the pressure of globalization, industrialization and concentration. I wouldn't recommend it, except to be a part of the historical narrative that shows that industrialization didn't happen overnight.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing special.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every summer we visit one of the farms highlighted in this book. I have an entirely new appreciation for them now and so grateful they offer theirs as well as other local products for sale in a new farm-stand where my mother-in-law purchased this book. The author is greatly concerned about the intricacies of the fate of farming and what the future may hold for small farmers. He also passionately delves into the unknown risks of GMOs and seed patents. For anyone not interested in the historical background of farming and "husbandry" the beginning and possibly areas where each farm described could be tedious. However, the last several chapters really flow with ease through the author's rather educated take on the ominous farm/food situation. And this was in 2004... wonder what he would say today?

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quite reminded me of Michael Pollan's Second Nature without the personal storytelling element. Jager discusses the history of farming and farm ideologies in New Hampshire and then presents four modern family farms. At times he became too technical for my interest, but I could see his writing style serving a reader with a more academic pursuit of understanding. His last three chapters could stand alone and excellently overviewed the vicious cycle of how increasing efficiencies to the scale of big farms leads to higher production and therefore lower prices.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I grew up, Uncle Herb's family farm was a favorite place to visit. He had lots of kids and got along well. Everyone knew their place and did their part. I thought family farming was a great way to live. So did Ronald Jager, author of The Fate of Family Farming. The trouble is the kind of farming Uncle Herb and thousands like him did couldn't sustain itself.
Jager tells us what happend.

[Hal]

This is definitely one I hope to pick up again