One Size Fits None: A Farm Girl’s Search for the Promise of Regenerative Agriculture

“To me, the words ‘farmer’ and ‘rancher’ imply a special identity, a stewardship and an almost spiritual sense of responsibility for the land. A farmer or rancher believes there is no other work that will satisfy an inner desire to coax life and food from the soil. Where that desire comes from isn’t always clear. It’s like the calling I feel to write, or that others feel to be chefs, priests, and parents—it’s insistent and powerful.” 

This passage embodies how Anderson viewed farmers and ranchers before she fully understood the modern industrial farming system. Anderson originally believed that farming connected an individual to the land, which resulted in a desire to protect and preserve it. This sense of stewardship was so powerful that it was the reason farmers continued to weather the struggles of farming. However, Anderson now realizes that many farmers and ranchers do not feel this sense of stewardship to the land. Instead, they view farming as a business rather than an identity; a point that a modern farmer’s agricultural degree further drives home.

“According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, the United States has 2.11 million farms, about 100,000 less than in 2002. A very small number of these farms holds the majority of the land and produces most of our commodities and food crops. About 1.7 million farms—more than 80 percent—did less than $100,000 in farm sales, together representing 5 percent of the total sales. That means about 20 percent of the farms produce 95 percent of the commodities and food.” 

Anderson describes the dilemma that American farm policies since the 1950s have created in this passage. Butz’s “get big or get out” edict destroyed most midsize and small farms because they could not outcompete very large farms. This farm crisis has produced an agricultural system that is top-heavy or dominated by megafarms. This industrial model of farming only considers yield and ignores the harm it is causing to human health, rural communities, the farm family, and land and water resources.