IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v3y1986i4p59-65.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The U.S. farm crisis: Program responses and alternatives to them—the case of Michigan

Author

Listed:
  • Laura DeLind

Abstract

The current crisis in U.S. agriculture has broadcast a rather simplex message. It is that the traditional family farm is in serious trouble. This message is apparent in the agricultural programs that have emerged in direct response to the farm crisis. Using Michigan's experience as illustration, these programs are shown to share similar objectives supported by a singular policy orientation. They utilize a ‘farm as firm’ model and treat the small farm operation as the unit of problem analysis and remedial action. They focus attention inward upon the ‘victim’ and attempt to change the victim's behavior through improved farm and farmer management. The paper considers the limitations inherent in this prevailing orientation. At the same time, it argues for the utility of an alternative perspective—one that places the farm in a wider context and considers the relationships between the farmer/victim and those who are more powerful—locally, nationally, and internationally. It advocates the need for research and programs that question these extra-farm relationships and their implications for farmer behavior. If agricultural programs are to assist the family farm, on any but a short-term basis, it is these relationships, and not the farmer, that must be changed. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1986

Suggested Citation

  • Laura DeLind, 1986. "The U.S. farm crisis: Program responses and alternatives to them—the case of Michigan," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 3(4), pages 59-65, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:3:y:1986:i:4:p:59-65
    DOI: 10.1007/BF01535486
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/BF01535486
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/BF01535486?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frederick Buttel, 1985. "The land-grant system: A sociological perspective on value conflicts and ethical issues," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 2(2), pages 78-95, March.
    2. Francis Lappe, 1985. "The family farm: Caught in the contradictions of American values," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 2(2), pages 36-43, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Margaret Kroma & Cornelia Butler Flora, 2003. "Greening pesticides: A historical analysis of the social construction of farm chemical advertisements," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 20(1), pages 21-35, March.
    2. Taylor, Donald C., 1992. "Underlying Values and Beliefs "Modern Science" Versus "Sustainable Development"," Economics Staff Papers 232225, South Dakota State University, Department of Economics.
    3. Robert Zimdahl, 1998. "Rethinking agricultural research roles," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 15(1), pages 77-84, March.
    4. Libby, Lawrence W., 0. "Environmental And Social Impacts Of Agriculture: A Special Challenge In Policy Education," Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and Policies, Farm Foundation.
    5. Douglas H. Constance, 2023. "The doctors of agrifood studies," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 31-43, March.
    6. Manderscheid, Lester V., 1988. "Undergraduate Educational Opportunities In The Face Of Declining Enrollments," 1988 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Knoxville, Tennessee 270332, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    7. Alessandro Bonanno, 1988. "Structural and technical development in agriculture: An international overview," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 5(1), pages 92-100, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:3:y:1986:i:4:p:59-65. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.