A profound shift is occurring among women working in agriculture鈥攖hey are increasingly seeing themselves as farmers, not only as the wives or daughters of farmers. The authors draw on more than a decade of research to document and analyze the reasons for the transformation. As their sense of identity changes, many female farmers are challenging the sexism they face in their chosen profession. In this book, farm women in the northeastern United States describe how they got into farming and became successful entrepreneurs despite the barriers they encountered in agricultural institutions, farming communities, and even their own families. Their strategies for obtaining land and labor and developing successful businesses offer models for other aspiring farmers.
Pulling down the barriers that women face requires organizations and institutions to become informed by what the authors call a feminist agrifood systems theory (FAST). This framework values women鈥檚 ways of knowing and working in agriculture: emphasizing personal, economic, and environmental sustainability, creating connections through the food system, and developing networks that emphasize collaboration and peer-to-peer education. The creation and growth of a specific organization, the Pennsylvania Women鈥檚 Agricultural Network, offers a blueprint for others seeking to incorporate a feminist agrifood systems approach into agricultural programming. The theory has the potential to shift how farmers, agricultural professionals, and anyone else interested in farming think about gender and sustainability, as well as to change how feminist scholars and theorists think about agriculture.
鈥淗alf investigation and half storytelling, this book provides the theoretical and practical frameworks necessary to ensure women farmers鈥 success in creating a more sustainable food future for all of us.鈥濃擳emra Costa, author, Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat
鈥淭his is an important and timely study鈥 as the growing number of female farmers and landowners are navigating the complexities of agriculture. It is easy to envision this highly accessible book on the shelves of extension workers, activists, and farmers.鈥濃擩enny Barker Devine, author, On Behalf of the Family Farm
鈥淭his book will do well with a wide audience. It presents unique data sources gathered by a diverse research team鈥 in collaboration with women joining together to redefine the term 鈥榝armer.鈥欌 A great book for both graduate and undergraduate courses in women鈥檚 studies and sustainable agriculture.鈥濃擟ornelia Butler Flora, Kansas State University
