The last decade or so have shown a significant decrease in US community/family run farms. International and global policies of creating "cash crops," have driven a lot of these smaller farms under. Despite this overall decrease in farms the number of women running farms has actually increased.
An article in the New York Times talks about a women, Ms. Rogowski in upstate New York who built a farm starting with a crop of chili peppers seeded in her bedroom and planted in a remote field. Ms. Rogowski has transformed Rogowski Farm, raising 250 varieties of produce and forming intimate connections to its customers and employees. For her innovations, she won a $500,000 "genius award" last year from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the first given to a full-time farmer.
Ms. Rogowski, 43, is one of thousands of women who have changed the face of American farming. Though American farms have steadily declined in jobs and capital for years, the number of farms operated by women has more than doubled since 1978, from just over 100,000 to almost 250,000 today, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Farming in the 3rd world context is a HUGE issue that stems from systemic global policies that have displaced women farmers (historically and globally the people usually on the fields) by buying out there land and raising prices on seeds that they have cultivated themselves. Check out Vandana Shiva for some background on this global phenomenon. Much of the produce/poison sold in chain super markets are grown at the cost of horrible labor conditions and low wages where people have been disenfranchised from their own land!
Almost 15 percent of American farms are now run by women.
It is pretty cool that in the States middle class folks have the ability to support local farms because of their preference for organic or locally grown produce. For those of you in the states: SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARM!!!! Not to be too preachy but this is a huge feminist issue and a little talked about global injustice.
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I don't see how supporting my local farm will solve problems in third world countries. In saving those farmers from the horrible labor conditions, you also take away their source of income. Paying artificially high prices for domestic goods hurts the distribution of wealth to less developed countries. Allowing the developed countries to become dependent on cheap foreign labor will eventually put more power into the hands of that foreign labor, putting them in a position to bargain for better work conditions, etc.
Are you saying short term bad conditions good bc it will lead to long term benefits for third world farm workers? It is usually the cheap labor that becomes dependent on the "foreign power" and is unable to become independent from it, due to hegemonic economic policies that dominate the local economy. Well that is at least the only way I have historically seen it to be.
Also, the hope is that the local farm prices are not inflated, but in fact a cost effective alternative to supporting larger corporate produce providers. But I see your point. I think one tactic in anti-sweatshop work is to not boycott. Do you know what some alternatives could be?
Paying artificially high prices for domestic goods hurts the distribution of wealth to less developed countries.games