Crisis and Opportunity: Sustainability in American Agriculture

by John E. Ikerd

With the decline of family farms and rural communities and the rise of corporate farming and the resulting environmental degradation, American agriculture is in crisis. But this crisis offers the opportunity to rethink agriculture in sustainable terms. Here one of the most eloquent and influential proponents of sustainable agriculture explains what this means. These engaging essays describe what sustainable agriculture is, why it began, and how it can succeed. Together they constitute a clear and compelling vision for rebalancing the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of agriculture to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future.

 

In Crisis and Opportunity , John E. Ikerd outlines the consequences of agricultural industrialization, then details the methods that can restore economic viability, ecological soundness, and social responsibility to our agricultural system and thus ensure sustainable agriculture as the foundation of a sustainable food system and a sustainable society.

Genres: Nonfiction

342 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

First, I have to say I'm an admirer of John Ikerd. As an agricultural economist, he has chosen a difficult path, and he it outspoken on the factors that contribute to the farm crisis. I looked forward to reading this work, and was hoping I could learn something from it. I've had the privilege of hearing him speak, and he is quite a dynamic presenter.

The book is not a coherent analysis of the crisis or a presentation of the opportunities. It is a collection of speeches given over a 20 year period to various audiences. The focus changes speech-to-speech, and there are a few things thrown in for the specific audience he is addressing. Various ideas are recycled. Some are floated and not developed. The earlier talks have a historical context that in some ways were prescient, but in others seem out of date.

The main theme is that family farms are good. Corporate agriculture is bad. The people in the heartland are the salt of the earth. Those in urban centers do not know what they are doing. The whole system is unsustainable. A better day is coming. Sometimes he invokes economics, sometimes religion. The rhetoric is plain-spoken, as one would expect from a Missourian, but on the printed page it is not as impressive as heard in the moment when it is fresh.

I gave up about a third of the way through. I might keep it on my shelf and thumb it for some of the better passages, but I found it essentially unreadable. Hopefully the next book of his on my shelf will be better.

[Gini · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's so rare that I don't finish a book, but that's just how it is I guess. Straight up unreadable. I got about 2/3 through with it and lightly skimmed the rest. Wasn't for me, maybe an economist would enjoy it more? Also wasn't what I thought it was (thought it was more environmental science and less economics, my bad I guess).

From an environmental science point of view, the book is a flop. The author frequently repeats that economics must be balanced with ecology, but never mentions that animal farms are a huge problem at the moment with the amount of land, using up water, greenhouse gases, transportation, etc. Kind of mentions soils and fertilizers but not the "opportunities" to fix it. Why was the book even written?

Just kind of felt like a whole book about almost nothing. Something something economics, something something small farm, repeat something something.

[Deme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in '08 and likely to be relevant for at least an era