Crisis & Opportunity: Sustainability in American Agriculture

With the decline of family farms and rural communities and the rise of corporate farming and the resulting environmental degradation, American agriculture is in crisis. But this crisis offers the opportunity to rethink agriculture in sustainable terms. Here one of the most eloquent and influential proponents of sustainable agriculture explains what this means. These engaging essays describe what sustainable agriculture is, why it began, and how it can succeed. Together they constitute a clear and compelling vision for rebalancing the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of agriculture to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future.In Crisis and Opportunity, John E. Ikerd outlines the consequences of agricultural industrialization, then details the methods that can restore economic viability, ecological soundness, and social responsibility to our agricultural system and thus ensure sustainable agriculture as the foundation of a sustainable food system and a sustainable society.

John E. Ikerd is professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri. He is the

Crisis and opportunity in American agriculture — Why we should stop promoting industrial agriculture — Corporate agriculture and family farms — The corporatization of America — Rediscovering agriculture and new hope for farming — Farming in harmony with nature and society — Reclaiming the sacred in food and farming — Do we really need to define sustainable agriculture? — Foundational principles of soils, stewardship, and sustainability — Economics of sustainable farming — The renaissance of rural America — Walking the talk of sustainable agriculture — Survival strategies for small farms — Marketing in the niches for sustainability — Local organic farms save farmland and communities — The triple bottom line of farming in the future — The real costs of globalization — Redirecting government policies for agricultural sustainability — The new American food system — American agriculture after fossil energy.