The Politics and Practices of US Agriculture

“The first and greatest American revolution, which has never been superseded, was the coming of people who did not look upon the land as homeland…It is a revolution that is still going on.” Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America

“All history is ultimately local and personal. To tell what we remember, and to keep on telling it, is to keep the past alive in the present. Should we not do so, we could not know, in the deepest sense, how to inhabit a place.” Paul Gruchow, Grass Roots: The Universe of Home

Why study agriculture?

Ever since my internship at Foxtail Farm, an organic vegetable CSA, in 2004, it’s been clear to me that studying, practicing, and changing agriculture in the US is something to which I am clearly called. During that first summer of growing food and being a part of the farming community, I began to piece together the complex framework of politics, economics, and culture that shapes the way we eat. Questions emerged faster than I could research the answers. Why it was that although I rarely ate corn or soybeans, the interstate from my house to St. Olaf ran through acres of those crops? Why are the most unsustainable farming practices so widely accepted? Why are tomatoes from California cheaper than ones grown in Minnesota? Why is it that the most unwholesome foods are the most plentiful? Why have many family farms disappeared? Why do we serve children in public schools conglomerations of fat, meat, and white flour, and corn syrup? After seeing how good food and farming could be, the insanity of jeopardizing our ability to feed ourselves – not to mention the cultural and environmental costs – became not just a scary situation but a call to action. My CIS major, STOGROW, and my advocacy work is an answer to this call.

Why study agriculture at St. Olaf?

Many scoff at the idea of a liberal arts degree in agriculture, viewing it as too theoretical or romantic. However, the diversity of courses at St. Olaf has allowed me to examine food and farming not just from an environmental perspective, but also from moral, cultural, and political perspectives. For example, I’ve thought about the ethics of food insecurity and raising livestock in Environmental Ethics, read essays by Minnesota farmers in Campus Ecology, and studied pesticide regulations in Environmental Policy and Regulation. From another angle, food is essential to life, so it allows me to integrate classes from seemingly unrelated disciplines. Reading about corn subsidies suddenly makes the statistics about childhood obesity practically whir with connections, and so on. Classes at St. Olaf give me a chance to study farming from many disciplines and in turn the central theme of food weaves together seemingly disparate courses.

I have had to be intentional about creating ways to make my education experiential, but I have found that through starting and managing STOGROW Farm, working on farms in India, and connecting with farmers in the area has enabled me to connect what I read with what I see and do.

St. Olaf is also the perfect place to pursue an education that will prepare me for leading a life of “worth and service” and putting my “ideals into action,” since these phrases are found in the college’s mission statement. Founded by Norwegian farmers, at its best St. Olaf embodies agragrian values such as thrift, long-term thinking, cultural memory, and humility in its institutional decisions. The college’s farmland also has huge experiential potential.

And what about after studying agriculture at St. Olaf?

Since my ancestors got off the boat from Norway five generations ago, I am the first Burtness to grow up off the farm. I would love to move down to the farm my family still owns in southeastern Minnesota to start an organic farm, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that my activist heart won’t let me, at least not right after college. There are huge institutional problems that make good farming hard to practice, and while we need folks on the ground walking the sustainable talk, I want to start breaking down the barricade of challenges small farmers face through policy reform at the state and national level.

Big problems call for big solutions. We will not change US agriculture just by asking individuals to buy organic broccoli. Working with organizations like the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the Land Stewardship Project, or the Minnesota Project would be part of accomplishing institutional change. Graduate school and/or advocacy may take me to Washington, D.C. or to the coasts, but Minnesota is my home, the place I know best. If I can stay here to help the land and people I love and be an effective agent for change, I will.

So, how will you study agriculture at St. Olaf?

On a very short list of things necessary for human survival, nourishment is preceded only by air, shelter, and water. It is a simple matter of biology – to live we need to eat. It’s a universally obvious fact. Likewise, to survive in 500 years humans will still need to feed themselves. However, the way we raise our food today will not work in 500 years. No food in 500 years = death. To any logical person, this chain of ideas would raise a huge red flag. Even though the “success” of US agriculture is precariously balanced on non-renewable resources, genetic uniformity threatens the resilience of our main crops, and rich Midwestern soil is deposited in the Gulf of Mexico by the ton, the government and corporations act as though all lights are green.

What can we do about this? By examining the history of US agriculture, past and present Farm Bills, American agricultural values, as well as new ways of growing and valuing food, I hope to arrive at an understanding of how we got ourselves into this mess and how we might work our way towards healthier land, food, and people.

Courses (*Completed)

  1. *Environmental Studies 125: Conservation Biology
  2. *History 275: Environmental History
  3. *Environmental Studies 222: Campus Ecology
  4. *Biology in South India (2 credits)
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  6. *Environmental Studies 137: Introduction to Environmental Studies
  7. *Environmental Studies 232: Environmental Policy and Regulation
  8. *Economics 121: Principles of Economics
  9. Political Science 246: Introduction to Public Policy
  10. *Environmental Studies 398: US Agriculture I -- History and Policy
  11. American Studies 398: US Agriculture II -- Farm to Fork (Sem II)
  12. *CIS 391: Senior Project I
  13. CIS 392: Senior Project II

*Environmental Studies 125/137

These two courses extended my basic scientific and environmental literacy. To understand how an entire agricultural system can be sustainable, solid comprehension of core aspects of the natural world such as evolution, photosynthesis, the carbon cycle, basic genetics, and the hydrological cycle is important. Also, ecological literacy is vital when critically reading large amount of research, essays, and media reports.

*History 275: Environmental History

In Environmental History we covered major trends in American history that have shaped the way we view, use, and interact with the land. Topics related to agriculture included American Indian land use, how English grazing and fencing methods changed the way we view property rights, pesticides and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and the development of major environmental legislation such as the Clean Air Act. In addition to the laying the framework within which I can study specifically American agricultural history, we also practiced using primary and secondary documents to write in-depth histories of particular places.

*Environmental Studies 222: Campus Ecology

In Campus Ecology we explored more of the arts and humanities aspects of American culture and values, environmental values, and the moral ecology of everyday life. We also used the entire St. Olaf campus, nearly 1,000 acres, to learn about food systems, water, power, and even how religion is a resource for environmentalism. Important American environmental values such as convenience, uniformity, individualism, and speed have influenced the way we eat which therefore affects who farms, what they grow, and how.

*Environmental Studies 232: Environmental Policy and Regulation

The Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, and other major environmental legislation affect the way farmers can legally run their farms, especially animal operations. Knowing the finer details of how water, air, and land quality are protected (or exploited) by policy is helpful when understanding other agricultural policy. This class also explores the benefits and limits of policy at federal, state, and local levels as an instrument of environmental protection.

*Biology in South India (2 credits)

During my semester in Tamil Nadu, India I did two research projects involving agriculture – “Organic and Inorganic Agriculture in the Palni Hills” and “Solar and Wind Powered Water Pumping on Organic Farms in Auroville.” My preconceived notions of agriculture (flat expanses of monocrops planted in rows) were dramatically changed by spending time interviewing small farmers with extremely diverse crops that relied mostly on sustainable inputs. On my own I also explored issues surrounding the importance of cultural context in agriculture, genetically modified crops, and the role of women in farming.

*Economics 121: Principles of Economics

Dominant economic theories have thoroughly shaped US culture as well as how and what farmers grow. The economics of every issue in public policy is considered, and to be effective in the world of nonprofits a basic literacy of economic thought is necessary. Also, both David Orr and I always argue for environmental literacy among econ majors, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t require econ classes for all environmentalists.

Political Science 246: Introduction to Public Policy

In this course I’ll develop a deeper understanding of how values translate into public policy, including environmental and agrarian values. This process can seem too daunting and complex to work within, but to accomplish change at the institutional level, the framework of public policy that shapes every aspect of the American life is crucial to comprehend.

Environmental Studies 398: US Agricultural History and Policy (Semester I)

In the first half of this year-long independent research project I will try to answer the question of “How did we get here?” How has agriculture changed in response to wars, shifts in values, different stages of American history, and policy decisions? Assignments will include reading from across the disciplines, including policy analysis as well as more humanities based interpretations of agricultural history.

Environmental Studies 398: The Future of Food (Semester II)

In the second half of my IR, I hope to explore options for moving towards sustainable agriculture. I’ll learn about Community Supported Agriculture farms, perennial polyculture, and grazing methods as well as the feasibility of these options. I’ll research proposals that offer a different way for government to support agriculture. I’ll write about how our attitudes as eaters and grocery shoppers need to change so we can be healthier people living on a healthier planet.

Supplemental Courses

  • *Biology 125
  • *Biology 126
  • *Philosophy 257: Environmental Ethics
  • *Dance 201: Body Moveable
  • *Environmental Studies 245: Global Climate Change

Experiential Components

  • Internship at Foxtail Farm, 2004

I spent the summer after my first year at St. Olaf on Foxtail Farm, an organic vegetable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm near Osceola, WI. I showed up on my birthday, May 30 th, as a passionate yet entirely useless farmhand, not knowing how to drive stick, use a lawn mower, tell tomato and potato plants apart, or how to coil barbed wire. When I left in mid-August, not only had I learned to do these things and more thanks to the patience of the Foxtail farmers, but I had fallen in love with farming. In fact, I loved it so much, I decided that St. Olaf needed a veggie farm, and the idea for STOGROW Farm was born.

Dan Borek and I partnered up in the fall of my sophomore year to start a St. Olaf CSA farm. At first our ideas met “no” in every direction, but we decided that Oles digging in the dirt just had to happen, so we went to Bon Appetit, the college food service. They offered to buy everything we could grow, every farmer’s dream! This guaranteed market enabled us to reapproach the higher-ups. They approved our idea and with crucial grants from the Student Government Association and the Finstad Center we were able to purchase equipment, seeds, and a greenhouse as well as hire a student worker. Our first growing season was the summer after my sophomore year, and hundreds of pounds of vegetables and fruit, a great relationship with Bon Appetit, and a dynamic group of volunteers suggest that the season was a success. Dan, our two new student farmers, and I are anticipating another successful season.

STOGROW Farm has been essential in my educational experience, allowing me to put my idealism into practice as well as giving me an opportunity to continue my learning and teaching about the importance of healthy soil, food, and people.

Senior Project

I spent the majority of my senior year at St. Olaf trying to answer one question: Why do we farm and feed ourselves this way? To answer this question, my research has led me through the history of U.S. agriculture since the early 1600's, conversations with farmers young and old, pages and pages of farm policy, and books on everything from food democracy to the New Deal to childhood obesity. I've translated my understanding of American agriculture and how it has been shaped in particular by federal policy into a 45 minute presentation which I gave in mid-April to an audience of friends, family, professors, and a whole slew of folks from Olaf and Northfield that I hadn't met before. The feedback was truly amazing--the stories and information I shared, according to members of the audience, really changed the way they shopped at the grocery store and thought about food and farming. Now I'm taking it on the road, presenting to groups like the local co-op in Northfield, the Izaak Walton League of America, and the Sustainable Farming Association. I hope to raise awareness not only about the 2007 Farm Bill, but about the way past agricultural policy has completely shaped the way we eat and live.

Dayna Burtness -- Senior CIS Web Portfolio -- 2007