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Farming for the Long Haul
It's all but certain that the next fifty years will bring enormous, not to say cataclysmic, disruptions to our present way of life. World oil reserves will be exhausted within that time frame, as will the lithium that powers today's most sophisticated batteries, suggesting that transportation is equally imperiled. And there's another, even more dire limitation that is looming: at current rates of erosion, the world's topsoil will be gone in sixty years. Fresh water sources are in jeopardy, too. In short, the large-scale agricultural and food delivery system as we know it has at most a few decades before it exhausts itself and the planet with it.
Farming for the Long Haul is about building a viable small farm economy that can withstand the economic, political, and climatic shock waves that the twenty-first century portends. It draws on the innovative work of contemporary farmers, but more than that, it shares the experiences of farming societies around the world that have maintained resilient agricultural systems over centuries of often-turbulent change. Indigenous agriculturalists, peasants, and traditional farmers have all created broad strategies for survival through good times and bad, and many of them prospered. They also developed particular techniques for managing soil, water, and other resources sustainably. Some of these techniques have been taken up by organic agriculture and permaculture, but many more of them are virtually unknown, even among alternative farmers. This book lays out some of these strategies and presents techniques and tools that might prove most useful to farmers today and in the uncertain future.
Farming for the Long Haul is about building a viable small farm economy that can withstand the economic, political, and climatic shock waves that the twenty-first century portends. It draws on the innovative work of contemporary farmers, but more than that, it shares the experiences of farming societies around the world that have maintained resilient agricultural systems over centuries of often-turbulent change. Indigenous agriculturalists, peasants, and traditional farmers have all created broad strategies for survival through good times and bad, and many of them prospered. They also developed particular techniques for managing soil, water, and other resources sustainably. Some of these techniques have been taken up by organic agriculture and permaculture, but many more of them are virtually unknown, even among alternative farmers. This book lays out some of these strategies and presents techniques and tools that might prove most useful to farmers today and in the uncertain future.
272 pages, Paperback
Published January 25, 2019
25 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
About the author
Michael Foley
1 book2 followersAfter twenty years in academia, Michael Foley began farming first in southern Maryland, and then in Willits, California, where he, his wife, and oldest daughter currently operate the small, diversified Green Uprising Farm. Foley is cofounder of the School of Adaptive Agriculture (formerly the Grange Farm School), a farmer training and education program where he is a board member and teacher. He also helped create and manage a community kitchen and small farmers group. He currently manages his local farmers market, and has served as vice president of the Mendocino County Farmers’ Market Association and president of Little Lake Grange.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 1, 2020
This is a book that, in Chapter 10, promotes "foot-dragging, dissimulation, false compliance, pilfering, feigned ignorance, slander, arson, sabotage, and so forth". I don't care what has been told in the previous 9 chapters or what was said in the following chapters, the notion that arson is a legitimate tool to any cause is extremely, extremely troubling for me, and impossible to justify.
The book is anchored on the notion that the world will look extremely different in the future as it does now since the tenets of our modern civilization (namely oil) will be gone soon enough and we will most likely return to an agrarian society, like it or not. While I appreciate some of the ecological discussions on soils, water management, and use of woodlands, the book tries to convince me that we should be an agrarian society right here and right now, before the ominous "end of oil", since there is anecdotal evidence that this is possible.
But for me, because it's possible (even if anecdotally) does not mean it's appropriate, timely, desirable, or feasible for most, and the book does little to convince me otherwise. The arguments are reduced to redundant figures of speech such as "big corporations are evil, big government is failing us, profit is bad", which honestly, is inefficient and tiring to read over and over again. This could be a great conversation starter to what we want to see in a future that might not be as plentiful as our present in terms of the resources we have in hand, but instead, become a leftist utopia that does little to advance any serious discussion - and don't get me wrong, I'm also a left-leaning person, but this book is just helpless.
The book is anchored on the notion that the world will look extremely different in the future as it does now since the tenets of our modern civilization (namely oil) will be gone soon enough and we will most likely return to an agrarian society, like it or not. While I appreciate some of the ecological discussions on soils, water management, and use of woodlands, the book tries to convince me that we should be an agrarian society right here and right now, before the ominous "end of oil", since there is anecdotal evidence that this is possible.
But for me, because it's possible (even if anecdotally) does not mean it's appropriate, timely, desirable, or feasible for most, and the book does little to convince me otherwise. The arguments are reduced to redundant figures of speech such as "big corporations are evil, big government is failing us, profit is bad", which honestly, is inefficient and tiring to read over and over again. This could be a great conversation starter to what we want to see in a future that might not be as plentiful as our present in terms of the resources we have in hand, but instead, become a leftist utopia that does little to advance any serious discussion - and don't get me wrong, I'm also a left-leaning person, but this book is just helpless.
April 13, 2019
What has Jewish Exodus to Palestine got anything to do with the future of farming?
Trying to find something new or useful in this book is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Farmers with 'indigenous knowledge' already know about crop rotation (or diversified uses of land), soil fertility, land erosion, water management and government regulations. Knowing the habits of neanderthals is superfluous. Also, one cannot create a civil war every time one disagrees with the government ala Mexico. If a community is unsupportive, we cannot turn them around, can we? I don't know what the message of the book is, but learning how to handle a farm - any kind of farm - in the 21st century is not it. But all the best to the author, I'm sure he means well. Best of luck to him (and his community) in sustaining his (their) livelihood.
Trying to find something new or useful in this book is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Farmers with 'indigenous knowledge' already know about crop rotation (or diversified uses of land), soil fertility, land erosion, water management and government regulations. Knowing the habits of neanderthals is superfluous. Also, one cannot create a civil war every time one disagrees with the government ala Mexico. If a community is unsupportive, we cannot turn them around, can we? I don't know what the message of the book is, but learning how to handle a farm - any kind of farm - in the 21st century is not it. But all the best to the author, I'm sure he means well. Best of luck to him (and his community) in sustaining his (their) livelihood.
December 19, 2025
leans liberal in bias.
February 6, 2020
This book has an important message - that to prepare for a more uncertain future - but was pretty scattered and "stream of consciousness" sort of writing. We do need to concentrate more on the local both in production of food and consumption. The second to last chapter was by far the most important. It will take a village to recreate a strong local food system which will support an equally strong local community from which we can rely as society as we know it collapses.
April 25, 2020
Very interesting overview of some of the current trends in sustainable agriculture. As an outsider to the topic I enjoyed it as an introduction to a lot of different ideas and practices, and it is engaging and very well written. Gets very political, in a good way.
March 4, 2023
I really wanted to like this book. I agree with the central premise of the author; that farmers need to produce for more than just profit and that there are benefits beyond 'the bottom line', and that resiliency needs to be a goal of food production. There are a few other few bright spots. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the role of celebration and community (chapter 8) and there are references to many other texts and authors that are interesting jumping off points. Unfortunately, the central premise of this book could be better expressed by a single page or perhaps a pamphlet, and it really falls apart as the author attempts to fill the space to create a book.
The author attempts to build their argument by citing historical examples, but what is one chapter a positive example is then later cited as a negative example. This contradictory tone is a problem throughout, amplified by the authors stream of consciousness style of writing. The entire book could use a good proofread.
There are also several throwaway historical and scientific lines that make the reader scratch their head and wonder about the credibility of all of the authors research. At one point the author suggests that germ theory is inaccurate (the endnote referenced at that particular point seems to be incorrect unrelated. This is an issue with several of the citations in the text and give the reader the impression that the work is more research and cited than it actually is).
There are historical inaccuracies, that seems to be mentioned to help support the authors argument at various points. The author seems strangely nostalgic about feudalism, and seems to almost suggest that life was better under that system (particularly for women). I think it's pretty clear that the rights of working people were not uniformly bad throughout history, but the author basically throws out any suggestion that life has improved tremendously for most people in the last 100 years. But like all parts of the text, is also strangely contradictory (the author discusses "free peasants" hiding in fens in medieval Europe. Free from what exactly?).
Another central premise is that we are approaching the end of the Age of Oil as the world will soon run out. This is largely a disproven concept, as the rate of discovery and production continue to expand worldwide. I actually thought the book was older than it was, and in general it read a lot more like something written in 2005 and not 2019. The idea that we'll simply run out of oil removes the responsibility from the author of making any suggestions about how we'll improve the world for the better if there continues to be oil .
Perhaps the largest issue is that there is a real lack of solutions presented in the book. The book never really suggest how we will really feed everyone in the world. At time the author comes across as staunchly anti-collectivist but then at other times, promotes that as the solution. At some points the author suggests that the problem is government and regulations, but never really mentions any of the horrific working and living conditions that those regulations sought to address. It's not until the last 10 pages that any sort of suggestions are put forward, and even then, the examples are weak and continue to be contradictory, until finally landing on a sort of wishy-washy 'peasants will be around forever'.
The author attempts to build their argument by citing historical examples, but what is one chapter a positive example is then later cited as a negative example. This contradictory tone is a problem throughout, amplified by the authors stream of consciousness style of writing. The entire book could use a good proofread.
There are also several throwaway historical and scientific lines that make the reader scratch their head and wonder about the credibility of all of the authors research. At one point the author suggests that germ theory is inaccurate (the endnote referenced at that particular point seems to be incorrect unrelated. This is an issue with several of the citations in the text and give the reader the impression that the work is more research and cited than it actually is).
There are historical inaccuracies, that seems to be mentioned to help support the authors argument at various points. The author seems strangely nostalgic about feudalism, and seems to almost suggest that life was better under that system (particularly for women). I think it's pretty clear that the rights of working people were not uniformly bad throughout history, but the author basically throws out any suggestion that life has improved tremendously for most people in the last 100 years. But like all parts of the text, is also strangely contradictory (the author discusses "free peasants" hiding in fens in medieval Europe. Free from what exactly?).
Another central premise is that we are approaching the end of the Age of Oil as the world will soon run out. This is largely a disproven concept, as the rate of discovery and production continue to expand worldwide. I actually thought the book was older than it was, and in general it read a lot more like something written in 2005 and not 2019. The idea that we'll simply run out of oil removes the responsibility from the author of making any suggestions about how we'll improve the world for the better if there continues to be oil .
Perhaps the largest issue is that there is a real lack of solutions presented in the book. The book never really suggest how we will really feed everyone in the world. At time the author comes across as staunchly anti-collectivist but then at other times, promotes that as the solution. At some points the author suggests that the problem is government and regulations, but never really mentions any of the horrific working and living conditions that those regulations sought to address. It's not until the last 10 pages that any sort of suggestions are put forward, and even then, the examples are weak and continue to be contradictory, until finally landing on a sort of wishy-washy 'peasants will be around forever'.
May 19, 2023
Some of this was interesting, most of it just seemed like a way to get brownie points by calling POC-privileged socialism “utopian”. Only read about half of it in depth, skimmed the rest. Lots of idolizing indigenous culture, dissing Europeans while also suggesting to implement parts of their culture, anti-farm tech, “this is how you should live your life.” Lots of proposed legal constraints. “Non-hierarchal and inclusive.” Basically zero practical information for someone pursuing regenerative agriculture and resiliency. Wouldn’t recommend.
Excerpts:
“The English model, repeated in white settler colonies throughout the British Empire…” (p. 63).
“White settler” is implied when English is mentioned, though there have been plenty of POC settlers (within the British empire and beyond) that have also applied this method of land ownership and agriculture.
“The independent homestead, patriarchal model of farm ownership that is the norm…” (p. 70).
Independent homestead ownership isn’t inherently patriarchal or matriarchal… and the idea that only men have created institutions to allow for individualized ownership of land is a hilarious misrepresentation of history that is very medieval-European based and speculative at best.
“Traditional societies generally have no problem sustaining themselves… sexual abstinence to herbal birth control or abortifacients to infanticide.” (p. 76).
… Anti-natalist much?
“The white man sure ruined this country. It’s turned back to wilderness.” (p. 121).
*sigh* How is this a constructive quote in any way? Just shame all white people ever, when the majority are trying to make the world a better place.
Witch hunts, misogyny, prejudice, blah blah blah… I’d refute every quote but it’s honestly a lost cause when something has gone this woke.
Excerpts:
“The English model, repeated in white settler colonies throughout the British Empire…” (p. 63).
“White settler” is implied when English is mentioned, though there have been plenty of POC settlers (within the British empire and beyond) that have also applied this method of land ownership and agriculture.
“The independent homestead, patriarchal model of farm ownership that is the norm…” (p. 70).
Independent homestead ownership isn’t inherently patriarchal or matriarchal… and the idea that only men have created institutions to allow for individualized ownership of land is a hilarious misrepresentation of history that is very medieval-European based and speculative at best.
“Traditional societies generally have no problem sustaining themselves… sexual abstinence to herbal birth control or abortifacients to infanticide.” (p. 76).
… Anti-natalist much?
“The white man sure ruined this country. It’s turned back to wilderness.” (p. 121).
*sigh* How is this a constructive quote in any way? Just shame all white people ever, when the majority are trying to make the world a better place.
Witch hunts, misogyny, prejudice, blah blah blah… I’d refute every quote but it’s honestly a lost cause when something has gone this woke.
April 17, 2024
I like to support people who wrote books like this, because I read a lot of this stuff and it is what I do. However, this book was not really anything that hasn’t been said before. He takes quotes or ideas from others, like Eliot Coleman, Wendell Berry, Dave Brown, and others who are hight profile in the regenerative space (but few women, which would have been nice to see because we are out there). The book makes it seem like he writes a lot about different cultures and their farming practices, and he does a bit but talks about other things a lot more. Tried to fit too many topics into the book- easily could have taken one of them and talked more about it. It would have been interesting to expand on the Grange and its history and how it could revive ag.
Anyways, not much new here, just reflections on info he gets from other sources.
Anyways, not much new here, just reflections on info he gets from other sources.
September 9, 2023
Meh. Kind of interesting as an anarchist take on subsistence farming but a bit too much idealization of a broad spread of ancient farming practices, not enough discussion of the actual techniques and strategies. I would rather read a deep dive on specifically Mayan or Indian historical farming methods than this which is just like, jerking off about how intelligent it is for looking to the past to prepare for the future.
Might try skipping to a later chapter to see if that goes into more detail.
Might try skipping to a later chapter to see if that goes into more detail.
January 28, 2019
I received this from NetGalley. Overall, interesting. I wish the author would have gotten more into the current literature on American agricultural history, I found that to be pretty severely lacking. The author's history tended more towards pretty sweeping generalizations or anecdotal evidence.
December 17, 2021
Last book I read which had quotation of Marx was published in Soviet Union. To find the same nonsense in a book published recently and in USA of all places is disturbing, frankly.
There were some snippets of useful information, two stars for that.
There were some snippets of useful information, two stars for that.
January 14, 2024
I don't get what these other reviews are on about. You may not like it, but this is extremely well researched and portends of what's to come. We need to adapt and create sustainable models, and the author is just giving you the tough truth. This will definitely warrant a reread.
September 18, 2020
Some interesting ideas, but much more conceptual than realistic. More useful information in Restoration Agriculture by Shepard, which this book quotes.
May 5, 2022
Long and boring. Was some useful knowledge in it just long read
September 7, 2022
One of the best books on farming I have read this year. Not some how-to manual. Much more philosophical. Much enjoyed the thinking it set me on. Your mileage may vary.
December 14, 2023
Excellent book for those interested in returning to the cycles of nature and community.
March 21, 2024
read for our mountain roots book club
January 21, 2024
Listened to this to prepare for a conference at the end of January where the author will be a keynote speaker.
Well written and researched.
Balanced thoughts on modern agriculture and the future of agriculture and land ownership and rights.
Just listened to again before the conference. I think he will be an interesting speaker.
Well written and researched.
Balanced thoughts on modern agriculture and the future of agriculture and land ownership and rights.
Just listened to again before the conference. I think he will be an interesting speaker.
June 30, 2024
My favourite thing about Farming for the Long Haul was the bibliography - I wrote down a long list of other titles that I’d like to read next.
As for the actual book... ehhhhhhhhh.
Foley is obviously very well-read and knowledgeable, and I fully agree with his basic idea that humanity needs to radically change our relationship with food, land and agriculture. Other than that though I’m not really sure what his point is. He covers a huge amount of ground, citing a wide range of sources, but it’s mostly just a collection of other people’s ideas without a clear unifying narrative.
With a bit more editing and organisation it might have worked as an essay collection. As a book it just feels kind of pointless, not to mention derivative.
I recommend A Small Farm Future by Chris Smaje and Small Farm Republic by Joel Klar (read my review) over Farming for the Long Haul.
As for the actual book... ehhhhhhhhh.
Foley is obviously very well-read and knowledgeable, and I fully agree with his basic idea that humanity needs to radically change our relationship with food, land and agriculture. Other than that though I’m not really sure what his point is. He covers a huge amount of ground, citing a wide range of sources, but it’s mostly just a collection of other people’s ideas without a clear unifying narrative.
With a bit more editing and organisation it might have worked as an essay collection. As a book it just feels kind of pointless, not to mention derivative.
I recommend A Small Farm Future by Chris Smaje and Small Farm Republic by Joel Klar (read my review) over Farming for the Long Haul.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews