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Book offers look into the evolution of American farming Book offers look into the evolution of American farming"A Revolution Down on the Farm : The Transformation of American Agriculture Since
Agriculture is the primary industry of the world in many ways as it is the first occupation that humans undertook and it is also the one most essential to our lives insofar as that without food, our lives simply will not continue. Yet farming is something oft considered simple and even a trade of bygone days instead of a vital and intricate field that has as many contemporary applications to our lives as it ever has in the history of our nation. To really understand this though, we have to also understand something about the history of agriculture itself. While a variety of books exist to educate us on this topic, few bring together the diversity of various sub-fields of farming and also the geographical diversity of American agriculture. In fact, there are books on things such as the sugar industry in Louisiana and cattle ranching in Florida, so it is easy to learn a lot about a fairly isolated aspect of agriculture without seeing the greater historical picture : Putting it all together can be a harder chore. Paul Conkin's new book "A Revolution Down on the Farm : The Transformation of American Agriculture Since 1929" takes on the expansive challenge of addressing an overview of American farming from around 1930 to today and approaches its topic both from a policy-based view and a technological one. Conkin, in addition to being a professional historian, grew up around farming and is able to share a lot of personal insights and observations on contemporary and recent historical agricultural praxis. His book is very readable and entertaining though academic enough to be used within a college course on agricultural or economic history. However, at less than 300 pages, I found the book a bit short and lacking in detail. Given its length, obviously, a lot of crucial aspects of various areas of agriculture cannot be covered in great detail. This is something of a pity because this book will probably be the leading volume on its topics for some time to come, and the deep vale standing between its expansive view and those books that only cover one sub-field of agriculture will probably discourage other writers from dealing with agricultural history in a very broad way as it's been so recently done and overall, in a very adroit manner. Had Conkin written 900 pages on his subject though, I would have gladly read them. The author taught history for years at Vanderbilt University and thus has a sweeping understanding of general American history, and the interplay between historical currents outside of agriculture and the evolution of farming is very interesting to read about. The New Deal, of course, is a prime example of this but it is only one of many Federal and state-level eras of efforts to better the production of farms and the foodstuffs of America. To come up with a complete picture of farming and of the nation, Conkin has had to reach into a lot of varied areas of national history and has been most adept in doing so. Conkin approaches farming on the level of technological advances and in doing so illustrates just how many from the 1930s onward have been made and how these have very much changed how farming is done today. Moreover, he looks at the wealth of varied policy theories that have been advanced for the sake of agriculture and indicates how some approaches have been to the benefit of farming and others have not. He has no central political leaning, bias, or thesis to present here but just a very strongly-researched background on American agriculture. Via this treatment, we learn not only the origins in policy of Federal measures to address farm-product surplus issues (that is, too many crops produced for the market to bear) but also that, in example, prior to World War II there were no commercial herbicides on the market. Again, at times, I desired more ample detail but Conkin's book certainly springs forward and can be read in a manner that encourages the reader to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topics addressed. What is more, his book is truly interesting to anyone interested in the history of farming or the history of rural America. As we see how farming was via technology and shifting patterns in American society turned away from the model of the traditional family farm and towards corporate farming, we get a better understanding also of rural America today. Conkin comments in one chapter that, where he lives, a lot of fields are filled with beef cattle yet most of these ranchers have other jobs and tend cattle as a secondary occupation. Such is certainly also true in north-central Florida and southern Georgia. I would strongly recommend this book to those interested in understanding better the evolution of American agriculture. While I found it lacking detail in some areas, it cannot be said that Conkin did not do his homework and it is hard to imagine another author with both his command of the subject matter and his ability to write in a flowing and entertaining manner. The little tidbits we learn about things like early tractors and how dangerous some of these were only left me in desire of more such information, but perhaps as both of my parents were raised on family farms I am an exception in the depth of agricultural history I wish to read about!
MIKE WALKER is a journalist and writer based in Gainesville, Florida. He writes for this and other news media on topics germane to history, ecology, and current events. He may be reached with comments at: cloudrace@prontomail.com |
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