Family Farming: A New Economic Vision - paperback

Americans decry the decline of family farming but stand by helplessly as industrial farming takes over. Family Farming exposes the bias in American farm policies that irrationally encourages expansion—a bias evident in federal commodity programs, income tax provisions, and subsidized credit services. Marty Strange challenges the assumption that bigger is better, critiques the technological base of modern agriculture, and calls for farming practices that are ethical, economical, and ecologically sound. The alternative policies discussed in this book could yet save the family farm. And the ways and means of saving it are argued here with special urgency.

Family Farming: A New Economic Vision
Marty Strange
A Bison Book/University of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0-8032-9194-9
1988
320 pages, indexed

Marty Strange, a cofounder and co-director of the Center for Rural Affairs, has written extensively on agricultural subjects.

"No handwringing or resignation about the plight of American farmers here--finally, some fresh, original thinking about the farm crisis. Pulling no punches, Strange cuts right to the value questions at stake in American agriculture. Revealing a rare blend of compassion and clear analytical thinking, Strange compellingly argues that Americans do have a choice. We can choose an agriculture that is fair, humane, and sustainable—and economically viable as well."
—Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet

"Strange suggests some corrections in policy that could play an important role when Congress next debates the national farm policy."
—New York Times Book Review

"Strange's vision is clear and focused. It should be shared."
—The Humanist

"Family Farming easily puts Strange among the ranks of other brilliant critics of the agricultural establishment."
—Dan Looker, Des Moines Register.
Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Chapter One: Farm Crisis Again
Chapter Two: Industrializing American Agriculture
Chapter Three: Land, the Central Issue
Chapter Four: A Tale of Three Farms
Chapter Five: The Myth That Bigger Is Better
Chapter Six: Chasing the Myth: Big-Farm Blues
Chapter Seven: Living the Myth
Chapter Eight: The Market Trinity: Land, Prices, and Technology
Chapter Nine: Technology: Getting Control of the Farm
Chapter Ten: Within Family Farming
What Can Be Done? Policy Choices
References