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, Incorporated 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