Girl Grow Power: Women in Sustainable Agriculture

There's a new book out there, and it's causing quite a stir. Temra Costa, a long time fixture of California's sustainable food scene, has just published a brand new book about women in sustainable agriculture called Farmer Jane: Women Changing The Way We Eat. I'm excited to read it, but in the meantime, I've done a little research on the topic myself, and have to concur that women really are playing a huge role in reshaping the way America farms and what we choose to eat.

Women have long been deeply involved in agriculture, even if they haven't always gotten much credit for it. But today women are even more involved in sustainable agriculture, and are up to three times more likely to operate a sustainable/organic model farm than a more standard farming model. Quite simply, women are everywhere in the wide realm of sustainable food, and it goes beyond running and working on farms. They are chefs, educators, concerned mothers, and in jobs at all levels of various food-focused non-profits and businesses. They are food policy-makers and community garden builders, farm-to-school initiators and food safety advocates. All in all, women are really shaking up the food scene.

In truth, women have shaking things up for quite some time, as organizations like the Women and Food Agriculture Network, which has been active since 1997, can attest to. Such organizations help support women farmers, offering workshops and trainings and linking female farmers to  a variety of resources, and now that one in ten farmers is a woman, that support network is very important. The sustainable and organic farming and food movements have long acknowledged and encouraged a space for women. But the release of Farmer Jane is really one of the first acknowledgments in a popular forum of the significant part that women are playing  in shaping a new food system, which I suspect is one of the reasons why the book is getting so much positive attention.

What I am particularly interested in learning, and am hoping that Farmer Jane addresses, is why the sustainable agriculture movement is correlated to the increased number of female farmers and shift in traditional farming gender roles. Of course I have my hypotheses, and the relationship does seem to make sense to me. It seems to be two fold: Since the feminist movement created spaces for women in predominately male occupations, it is not surprising that the farm wife (who did a whole lot of farming to begin with) take on the title and role of farmer. Women could become  farmers of their own right, unattached to a male counterpart. But at the same time there is also the slightly contrasting idea that the preparation of food, giving of nourishment, and a more holistic approach to farming is in its essence very feminine, and therefore the realm of sustainable food/agriculture is a natural fit for women.

These are only bits and pieces of ideas, and the release of Farmer Jane has certainly sparked my interest to learn more about gender and agriculture today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that  Farmer Jane will be joining the collection at my local library soon. I  can't wait to check it out!