Mother Nature's Daughters: 21st Century Women Farmers

by Paula vW. Dáil

Overview

Nearly half of all farmland in the U.S. is owned by women—295,000 of them. In an enterprise traditionally dominated by men, they are taking a lead role in overhauling a complex, often dysfunctional food system. This book features eight stories of women farmers who persevere despite treacherous weather and erratic commodities markets. Smart, independent, hard-working and politically astute, they explain in their own words how and why they chose, and continue to choose, farming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786497829
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	10/26/2016
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Paula vW. Dáil is an emerita research professor in social welfare and public policy. Widely published in the social sciences, she is a political activist, former journalist, and award-winning non-fiction writer. She lives in the Lower Wisconsin River Valley of Southwestern Wisconsin.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Preface 1

Introduction: The Dirtier My Clothes-The Better My Day: A Brief History of Woman Farmers 9

1 Godspeed the Plow: Spirit Connects with Land, Food and Mother Nature 43

2 Farming for the Love of God 68

3 Farming to Heal a Troubled Soul 105

4 Don't Let Your Daughters Grow Up to Be Farmers: Making a Living Off the Land 134

5 Voting with a Fork: Farming as a Political Statement 163

6 Farming for the Love of Farming 194

Conclusion: Cultivating the Dirty Life: Feminism at Its Finest 213

Chapter Notes 229

Bibliography 233

Index 235