Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:16:38.197Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is sustainable agriculture an elixir for rural communities?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Paul Lasley ,
Eric Hoiberg  and
Gordon Bultena
Paul Lasley
Affiliation:
Professors, Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
Eric Hoiberg
Affiliation:
Professors, Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
Gordon Bultena
Affiliation:
Professors, Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
Get access

Abstract

The transformation of agriculture according to an industrial model has had clear benefits in improving efficiency and lowering production costs, but also has had adverse consequences on rural culture and the environment. Sustainable agriculture offers alternative practices and values intended to promote environmental stewardship, conserve resources, preserve farm traditions, and support rural communities. Strong arguments can be made that it will have these consequences, based on the interactions among agricultural structure, rural community viability, and environmental quality. However, counterarguments can also be made, and the claimed benefits of sustainable agriculture for rural communities must be regarded as not yet demonstrated.

Keywords

structure of agricultureenvironmental qualityfarm size
Type
Commentary
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 133 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Berry, W. 1987. A defense of the family farm. In Comstock, G. (ed). Is There a Moral Obligation to Save the Family Farm? Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames, pp. 347–360.Google Scholar
2.Beus, C.E., and Dunlap, R.E.. 1990. Conventional versus alternative agriculture: The paradigmatic roots of the debate. Rural Sociology 55(4):590–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Bultena, G., Hoiberg, E., Jarnigan, S., and Exner, R.. 1993. Transition to a more sustainable agriculture in Iowa. Dept. of Sociology, Iowa State Univ., Ames.Google Scholar
4.Buttel, F., Larson, O.F., and Gillespie, G.W. Jr., 1990. The Sociology of Agriculture. Greenwood Press, New York, N.Y.Google Scholar
5.Cochrane, W.W. 1979. The Development of American Agriculture: A Historical Analysis. Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
6.Dahl, B., Goreham, G., Jacobsen, R., Sell, R., Stearns, L., Watt, D., and Youngs, G.. 1991. Impacts of sustainable agriculture on North Dakota communities. Agric. Economics Rept. No. 272. Dept. of Agric. Economics, North Dakota State Univ., Fargo.Google Scholar
7.Dunham, D. 1991. Food spending and prices rise, but Americans' share of income spent on food declines. Farmline (July): 17.Google Scholar
8.Faeth, P., Repetto, R., Kroll, K., Dai, Q., and Helmers, G.. 1991. Paying the farm bill: U.S. agricultural policy and the transition to sustainable agriculture. World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
9.Flora, C.B. 1990. Sustainability of agriculture and rural communities. In Francis, C.A., Flora, C.B., and King, L.D. (eds). Sustainable Agriculture in Temperate Zones. John Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y. pp. 343–359.Google Scholar
10.Goldschmidt, W. 1968. Small business and the community: A study in the central valley of California on effects of scale of farm operations. In Corporation Fanning. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Monopoly of the Select Committee on Small Business, U.S. Senate, pp. 303–433Google Scholar
11.Goldschmidt, W. 1978. As You Sow: Three Studies in the Social Consequences of Agribusiness. Allanheld, Osmun and Co., Montclair, New Jersey.Google Scholar
12.Heffernan, W.D. 1982. Structure of agriculture and quality of life in rural communities. In Dillman, D.A. and Hobbs, D.J. (eds). Rural Society in the U.S.: Issues for the 1980s. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 337–346.Google Scholar
13.Heffernan, W., and Campbell, R.. 1986. Agriculture and the community: The sociological perspective. In Korsching, P. and Gildner, J. (eds). Interdependencies of Agriculture and Rural Communities in the Twenty-First Century: The North Central Region, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Ames, Iowa. pp. 41–54.Google Scholar
14.Heffernan, W.D., and Lasley, P.. 1978. Agriculture structure and interaction in the local community: A case study. Rural Sociology 43:348–361.Google Scholar
15.Keeney, D. 1989. Toward a sustainable agriculture: Need for clarification of concepts and terminology. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 4:101–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Kirkendall, R.S. 1991. A history of American agriculture from Jefferson to revolution to crisis. In Johnson, G.L. and Bonnen, J.T., with Fienup, D., Quance, C.L., and Schaller, N. (eds). Social Science Agricultural Agendas and Strategies. Michigan State Univ. Press, E. Lansing, pp. I:14–23.Google Scholar
17.Korsching, P.F. 1984. Farm structural characteristics and proximity of purchase location of goods and services. In Research in Rural Sociology and Development. Vol. 1. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut, pp 261–287.Google Scholar
18.Korsching, P., and Gildner, J. (eds.). 1986. Interdependencies of Agriculture and Rural Communities in the Twenty-First Century: The North Central Region. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Ames, Iowa.Google Scholar
19.Lasley, P., Duffy, M., Kettner, K., and Chase, C.. 1990. Factors affecting farmers' use of practices to reduce commercial fertilizers and pesticides. J. Soil and Water Conservation 45(1):132–136.Google Scholar
20.Lobao, L.M. 1990. Locality and Inequality: Farm and Industry Structure and Socioeconomic Conditions. State Univ. of New York Press, Albany.Google Scholar
21.Lockeretz, W. 1986. Alternative agriculture. In Dahlberg, K.A. (ed). New Directions for Agriculture and Agricultural Research. Rowman and Allanheld, Totowa, N.J. pp. 291–311.Google Scholar
22.Me Williams, C. 1969. Factories in the Fields: The Story of Migratory Farm Labor in California. Archon Books, Hamden, Connecticut.Google Scholar
23.Olson, M. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Rogers, E.M. 1983. Diffusion of Innovations. 3rd ed.The Free Press, New York, N.Y.Google Scholar
25.Schumacher, E.F. 1973. Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. Perennial Library, New York, N.Y.Google Scholar
26.Small Farm Viability Report. 1977. The family farm in California: Report on the small farm viability project. Employment Development, Governor's Office of Planning and Research, Dept. of Food and Agriculture, and Dept. of Housing and Community Development, Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
27.Strange, M. 1991. Rural Economic Development and Sustainable Agriculture. Center for Rural Affairs, Walthill, Nebraska.Google Scholar
28.Youngberg, G. 1984. Alternative agriculture in the United States: Ideology, politics and prospects. In Knorr, D. and Watkins, T.R. (eds). Alterations in Food Production. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, N.Y. pp. 107–135.Google Scholar
29.Zuiches, J. 1981. Residential preference in the United States. In Hawley, A. and Mazie, S.M. (eds). Nonmetropolitan America in Transition. Univ. of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, pp. 72–115.Google Scholar