1 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff Mom Never told You. From house supports 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello, welcome to the podcast. I'm Kristen and 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: I'm Caroline, and this week we're talking about women and agriculture, 4 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: and today we're focusing on farming. And Caroline, this episode 5 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: made me a little bit jealous because I do not 6 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: have a green thumb. No, I I am at once 7 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: accepting of the fact that I have a brown or 8 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: a black thumb and in denial because I understand that 9 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 1: I have in fact killed bamboo before i've killed a cactus. 10 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: But on the other hand, I am still ever optimistic. 11 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,639 Speaker 1: I purchased a whole bunch of plants now that it's 12 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: spring and it's warm and like tropical in Atlanta. Already, 13 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: I've purchased a bunch of plants to keep it my 14 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: boy friend's house because I have no yard um and 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: I am convinced that this year, Kristen, this is the 16 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: year that I'm going to keep them alive. Well, I'll 17 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: be rooting for you. I like, I'll be rooting for 18 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: the plants you as well, but but more the plants, Caroline. 19 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: I get it. Rooting rooting an intentional gardening pun didn't 20 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: even mean to make that happen off to a good story. Yeah. 21 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: Um well, I can't imagine, for one, keeping a plant 22 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: in a pot alive, but to keep entire fields of 23 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: plants alive is mind boggling to me on a personal level. 24 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: And when it comes to women in farming, though, this 25 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: is a really exciting time to be a woman working 26 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: the land because women have been farming as long as 27 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: men have been farming, really, but in recent years there's 28 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: been a lot more attention paid to the role of 29 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: women in agriculture. Yeah, we've got this thing that is 30 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: referred to across a whole bunch of sources called the 31 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: grass ceiling, that women are finally cracking the grass ceiling, 32 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: or I guess putting a shovel in it. Yeah, we're 33 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: getting out our lady lawnmowers. And now that's right, that's right. Um. 34 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: But a lot of focus traditionally has been on women's 35 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: role on the farm being one of support. She's the 36 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: supporting actress. So she's at home at the farmhouse, she's 37 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: cooking dinner, she's paying the bill, she's making sure all 38 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: of the homestead stuff is taken care of while her 39 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: cowboy farmer husband is out on the tractor, farming the fields. 40 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: But as we'll get into, women have so much more 41 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: of a role than just that. Then, not that there's 42 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: anything wrong with being at the homestead and cooking dinner 43 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: and all of that good stuff, but women do have 44 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: an incredibly active, rich, vital role out in the fields 45 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,919 Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, no longer is the end all be 46 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: all to become a farmer's wife. Um and Barrett Brandt 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: wrote about feminism and the idea of the farmer's wife 48 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: and the relationship between farming women and feminism in a 49 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: paper called on the Relationship between Feminism and farm Women 50 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: UH in the journal Agriculture and Human Values, and she 51 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: talks about how in the nineteen eighties and nineties, research 52 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: on women farmers consistently found those farming families, as you 53 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: talked about, reflecting these kinds of patriarchal power structures, men 54 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: as the landowners, rendering women subordinate to them and in 55 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: a lot of ways even to the land. And I 56 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: thought it was interesting too that the f f A 57 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: formerly known as Future Farmers of America didn't even admit 58 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: girls until nineteen sixty nine, although, as reported on a 59 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: couple of years ago in USA, today it's now made 60 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: up a forty four percent women compared to just women 61 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: in so even when it comes to youth an interest 62 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: in farming, we're seeing a growing interest among girls. But 63 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: that's crazy to me that, Like I I get the 64 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: whole thing about attitudes about women and not thinking that 65 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: women are cut out for farming. Like I understand that 66 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: some of those attitudes existed and somehow, you know, still 67 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: do exist. But it's crazy to me that in an 68 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: organization called the Future Farmers of America, they weren't even like, 69 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,600 Speaker 1: maybe we should let little girls play well because they 70 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: would be in the future of farmer wives of America. Caroline. 71 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: That's where the that's where the girls would belong under 72 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: the old paradigm, I should say, because as Helen Gunderson, 73 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: who is a farmer in northern Iowa told NPR not 74 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: too long ago, quote, girls could grow up to be 75 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: farmers wives, but for a woman to actually consider herself 76 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: to be a farmer or grow up to be a farmer, 77 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: that wasn't in the script. And she told in PR 78 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: about how when she was a young girl on her 79 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: family farm, her brothers were the ones who were being cultivated. 80 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: I am so sorry for all of these unintentional farming puns. 81 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: By the way, it's just gonna keep happening. They were 82 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: being cultivated for the later harvest of uh No. All 83 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: of her brothers were received all the attention from her 84 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: dad to make sure that they knew how to operate 85 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: and manage a farm from the more business side, whereas 86 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: little Helen was just so may you might grow up 87 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: one day and be a farmer's wife and you can 88 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: live off the land that way. Yeah, But she said 89 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: that when she talked to her dad about this, like, hey, dad, 90 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: you know years later when she came back and wanted 91 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: to be a farmer and wanted to have more of 92 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: a role out on the land, and she told her 93 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: to I was like, hey, you know, I really feel 94 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: like you put more of the focus on the boys. 95 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: Maybe is that a thing? And he was like, oh, yeah, yeah, 96 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: that sounds about right. So I mean, nobody's denying that 97 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: women were kind of being shuttled off into a different 98 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: direction the kitchen, but right exactly toward the kitchen or 99 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: the henhouse right so to speak, or literally literally, And 100 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 1: that was also exemplified in a Super Bowl commercial couple 101 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: of years ago which I remember, and the theme was 102 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: God Created a farmer, and it was this very uplifting, 103 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: beautifully shot commercial really celebrating the farmer. And as pointed 104 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: out in this USA Today article on the rise of 105 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: women in farming, almost all of the imagery in that 106 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 1: commercial was of men on tractors, men in the pickup trucks, 107 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: men on horseback. There were a couple of women here 108 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: and there, but overwhelmingly male farmers. Yeah, and talking to 109 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: USA Today Denise O'Brien, who has been farming with her 110 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 1: husband for just about forty years in Iowa, so that, yeah, 111 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: it's great that there's this tribute to agriculture and that 112 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 1: we still respect our farmers and we want to pay 113 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: tribute to them. But on the other hand, she says, 114 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: they're missing more than half the population that's been involved 115 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: with it. And so that's kind of what we want 116 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: to talk about today in this episode. We want to 117 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: show you that the staff regarding women and farming are 118 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: way better than you might expect, and they've been getting better. 119 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,679 Speaker 1: According to the u s d A u S farms 120 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: operated by women nearly tripled over the past three decades 121 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: from five percent in nineteen seventy four percent by two 122 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: thousand seven. Now, of course there is an issue of 123 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: of reporting um the U. S d A's agricultural SINCEUS 124 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: only started counting secondary farm operators including women in two 125 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: thousand two. And the whole issue there is that a 126 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: lot of smaller farms, you know, you might think of 127 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: the little organic farm in Vermont or something. A lot 128 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: of those smaller operations are run by women, by people 129 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: of color, and so those are the smaller farms tend 130 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: to be outside of the mainstream. But even since two 131 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: thousand two, when the U. S d A started including 132 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: those secondary farm operators, there has been a thirty percent 133 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: jump and women run farms, according to Lee Adcock, who's 134 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: the director of the Women Food and Agrica Culture Network. 135 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: Now there is a little bit of statistical conflict because 136 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: we also found a post over at the National Sustainable 137 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: Agriculture Commission which identified a six percent drop in women 138 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: as principal farm operators from two thousand seven to two 139 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: thousand twelve. But that was actually, in statistical speak, that 140 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: was more of an outlier because in the past few 141 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: years almost all the trend pieces have been all focused 142 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: on the rising role of women in agriculture. Not just 143 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: in the United States but also around the world, happening 144 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: at such a pace that some are referring to this 145 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: as the feminization of agriculture. Yeah, and a large part 146 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: of this so called feminization is the fact that as 147 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: society has become more geared towards urban centers, men are 148 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: leaving the homes and the farms in the rural areas 149 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: at a greater pace lead basically leaving women behind. And 150 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: so it's not necessarily that more women are setting out 151 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: to be farmers, although that is certainly the case in 152 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: many areas, but it also happens to be that they 153 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: are sort of left behind, so to speak. And because 154 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: of how unintentional this feminization of agriculture is, particularly in 155 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: more developing nations UH, the u N has actually put 156 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: a lot of focus on providing more resource for women farmers. 157 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:30,440 Speaker 1: Um So, for instance, women farmers tend to own less 158 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: fertile plots of land, they tend to own fewer work animals, 159 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: and also just have less education in general. So with 160 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: this growing responsibility that women around the world are now 161 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: having in terms of the global food supply, the u 162 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: N and a lot of other NGOs are saying, hey, well, 163 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: we need to support them. We need to make sure 164 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: that they are on as equal footing with male farmers 165 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: as possible, because the land that they have and they're 166 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: tending and harvesting is very important to feed us. Exactly 167 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: what I mean that is talking about the global the 168 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: global farm the global farming industry. But I think that 169 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: exists here too. We read plenty of stuff that talks 170 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: about how quote unquote minority farmers, whether that is someone 171 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,440 Speaker 1: who is a woman, a person of color, a queer farmer. 172 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: As we'll get into a little bit later. Um, a 173 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: lot of these people who aren't part of the big 174 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: industrial farm complex have a lot of problems getting that 175 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: important financial support, especially in terms of things like going 176 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: organic for instance, to be able to get that U 177 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: s d A funding. It's harder for minority farmers sort 178 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: of wherever you are. And can I just call out 179 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: a few of the international women farmers that we ran 180 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,680 Speaker 1: across in our research, Caroline, Okay, So a lot of 181 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: this was coming from Modern Farmer, which recently won a 182 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: national magazine award. And I'll tell you what, Friends, after 183 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 1: spending a week on the Modern Farmer website, I want 184 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: to subscribe it's fantastic. It's a fantastic resource. And one 185 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: of the things we were looking at was this photo 186 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: essay of women farmers around the world, and among them 187 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: were the seaweed mamas of Zanzibar who harvest seaweed that 188 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: we probably enjoy in our farmers markets or at our 189 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 1: local sushi restaurant. Um also rural Nepalese women who make 190 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: up a majority of soul landowners in Nepal. And then 191 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: there was another post about the Yamagata Girls Farm in 192 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: Japan where it's this a group of young women who 193 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: have started up a farm in Japan. It's exactly what 194 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: it sounds like. Um. So it's really interesting to see 195 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: beyond our own backyards, how women are, you know, paving 196 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: their own way in agriculture. But then the question becomes 197 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: why more women, especially when we look back in the 198 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: United States and we see all of these trend pieces 199 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: reporting on those uh those USDA statistics saying hey, there 200 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: are more women running farms. What's going on? Well, you know, 201 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: like we touched on earlier, the census is counting more 202 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: of those small secondary farm operators, a lot of whom 203 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 1: are women, and most female run farms do tend to 204 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 1: be smaller and more diverse, and many are part of 205 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: the organic and local food movements. Most also have annual 206 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: sales under ten thousand dollars. And this is coming from 207 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: that same NPR interview with Lee Adcock, the director of 208 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: the Women Food and Agriculture Network, and she was saying 209 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: that by far the biggest percentage of that increase in 210 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,959 Speaker 1: women farmers is women with small acreages making not a 211 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: whole lot of money, but making some money from agriculture 212 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: and often raising food or livestock for food. And she 213 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: says that they are really out there there, out there working, 214 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: and they are raising the food that we are eating. 215 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,679 Speaker 1: But she says they're not getting into farming to run 216 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: quarter million dollar combines. They're out there raising food. And 217 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: this was something that Sonya Faruki also explored over at 218 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: The Atlantic in terms of gender and big agri business. 219 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: The Tyson Foods, for instance, the the ubiquitous chicken that 220 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: you might see in your grocery stores. She says that 221 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: women are scarce when it comes to running those large scale, 222 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: big factory farms, and using Tyson as an example, Tyson 223 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 1: Foods has one woman on its executive team. But at 224 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: the same time, Faruki says, it's not that surprising to 225 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: not see that many women, particularly in the leadership there 226 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: might be working in the factories, but not many women 227 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: in the leadership of agribusiness, because that's usually not where 228 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: our interests lies when it comes to farming. We're far 229 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: more interested on a ridge, in these smaller, more sustainable, 230 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:08,680 Speaker 1: slower kinds of food operations. Yeah, and she says that 231 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: when you look at four of the biggest multibillion dollar 232 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: factory farm corporations, women cumulatively constitute less than ten percent 233 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: of senior executives. And she's arguing in her article though, 234 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: that it would be only a good thing, only a 235 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: positive thing, to get more and more women on boards 236 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: on executive teams, because she argues that women have a 237 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: different perspective, that yes, we tend to want to be 238 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: part of the smaller, organic, you know, homegrown, more local operations, 239 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: but that our perspective on things like organic food, cage 240 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: free eggs, animal cruelty could help benefit the rest of 241 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: the industry. Yeah, and when it comes to those large 242 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: factory farms, that's something that we're going to talk about 243 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: a little bit more in our next podcast this week, 244 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: which is all about Dora Puerta, a woman who took 245 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: on directly some of those big farms out in California. UM. 246 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: But looking back at those women farmers UM. The rise 247 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: of farmers markets, local local farmers markets, which is something 248 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: that we've seen here where we live in Atlanta, has 249 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: been highly attractive for female producers. C says, working with 250 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: farm to table restaurants, the entire slow food movement has 251 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: been really really attractive UM to newer women farmers coming 252 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: into the fold. And there's also just in general more 253 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: opportunity by virtue, for instance of farmland family farmland changing 254 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: hands as baby boomers age. Yeah, and just the fact 255 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: that it'll it's going to eventually start to be less 256 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: weird in the public imagination that a woman could run 257 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: a big farm and sit on a tractor and have 258 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: it not be a big deal. And so maybe people 259 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: like Helen Gunderson and her family it won't be such 260 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: a thing of like, well, we're definitely passing this down 261 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: just to the sons, and the daughter can go find 262 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: something else to do. Old McDonald is going to become 263 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: old ms donald. Huh, that's right, And and Ms McDonald 264 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: we'll have the chance to get in on this because 265 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: according to USA today, there are about two hundred million 266 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: plus acres of farmland in the US that will change 267 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: hands by and there's a real potential for women to 268 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: end up owning half of that land. Yeah, and that's 269 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: why you're seeing more and more women focused groups emerging 270 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: like Women Food and Agriculture Network and a smaller operations 271 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: like Annie's Project that directly serve women interested in farming 272 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: to teach them not only how to grow crops, but 273 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: also how to manage a farm business. And globally too, 274 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: we see organizations like Landessa and one Percent for Women 275 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: that also focus more on things like land use rights 276 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: and supporting those women in agriculture who might need more 277 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: of a leg up in the context of being in 278 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: a developing country. And you've got the issue too that 279 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: we've touched on about women's interests growing in farming, particularly 280 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,919 Speaker 1: in sustainable agriculture, because traditionally women have been likelier to 281 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: control household diets themselves, so they maybe perhaps are more 282 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: likely to go in the direction of sustainability, in organic farming, 283 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: fewer pesticides, things like that. And when you look at 284 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,679 Speaker 1: nonprofits who are focused on sustainable agriculture issues. Women compose 285 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: sixty one and a half percent of those employees and 286 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: of those organizations executive directors. And then there are also 287 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:44,120 Speaker 1: the responses of women farmers themselves about what personally motivates 288 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: them to have to pursue this career and lifestyle that 289 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: isn't necessarily easy. And Audrey Mulcan, who is a photographer 290 00:17:54,520 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: who created the Female Farmer Project documenting women farmers across 291 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: the United States, posted on her like fan Facebook page 292 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: asking her followers what draws women to farming, and so 293 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,120 Speaker 1: the responses included nurturing, a desire to set a good 294 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: ecological example for children, creativity, exhibiting strength, the fact that 295 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: women are natural feeders and cultivators, and also a desire 296 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: to make a difference. So there really does seem to 297 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: be for a lot of women and farming this connection 298 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: between themselves as women and how they see themselves in 299 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: that role, and that connection to the earth and to 300 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: being mothers and also to food production. But as we're 301 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: going to talk about in the second half of the podcast, 302 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:52,120 Speaker 1: for some women, farming is a feminist act as well. 303 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: So over bitch Alice Parker writes about the eco feminist movement. 304 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: Perhaps you've read about eco feminism and the links between 305 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:13,399 Speaker 1: feminism womanhood, the traditional definition of that versus the definition 306 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: that we would perhaps be aspiring to as farmers. Um 307 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,679 Speaker 1: And Parker writes about shopping at a farmer's market and 308 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,959 Speaker 1: buying raw fermented sarakraut locally or direct from a farmer, 309 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,360 Speaker 1: doing all of these things like knitting your own clothes, 310 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: riding your bicycle, cooking something simple from scratch. She talks 311 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: about them as feminist acts. It might not seem obvious, 312 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,879 Speaker 1: they might seem small, like they're very unimportant personal acts, 313 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: but she says they oppose and unweave heartless systems of 314 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: oppression like factory farms and sweatshops. These oppressive systems, she writes, 315 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: carry the real prison walls, not your kitchen. And so 316 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: it is. It's that argument that a lot of people make, 317 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 1: whether it's about farming or something like the New domesticity movement, 318 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: that being a provider, being the person who's raising the food, 319 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: raising the livestock, knitting those hats, it doesn't have to 320 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: be an oppressive act. What's oppressive, a lot of these 321 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: people argue, is participating in a capitalist system that exploits workers. Yeah, 322 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: and also many would viably argue poisons the land and 323 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 1: food as well through the use of things like pesticides. 324 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,880 Speaker 1: And if you want to learn more about ecofeminism, we've 325 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 1: done an entire podcast all about that, So we're not 326 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: going to get into the nuts and bolts of it, 327 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: but you can find that podcast over at stuff Mom 328 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: Never Told You dot com. But we do want to 329 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:42,160 Speaker 1: mention briefly the women's land movement of the nineteen seventies, 330 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 1: and that is women with a Y, because these were 331 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: radical feminists who formed separatist agricultural communities, including places like 332 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: Yellow Hammer and Woman Share, as a way to fully 333 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: liberate themselves from the patriarchy. And again, there is a 334 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: great piece on this in Modern Farmer, my new favorite magazine, 335 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: not even joking, and it was fascinating to see how 336 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: there was It was radical feminism and also lesbianism combined 337 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: with agriculture. Some call this a take back the Land movement, 338 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: where these women really firmly believed that they needed to 339 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:28,679 Speaker 1: eradicate men from their lives completely, whether that's sexually or 340 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: whether that is in like in any way providing for 341 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,200 Speaker 1: their livelihood. They were like, we don't need you, We're 342 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 1: just gonna We're gonna take back the land essentially. Yeah, 343 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: But unlike a lot of farms today, I think the 344 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: focus was more on the act of separating themselves from 345 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: men and the traditional system of being with men, depending 346 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: on men for providing, you know, of depending on those 347 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: big factory farms. The focus wasn't so much on the 348 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: actual farming itself, which I think is different from a 349 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,919 Speaker 1: lot of today's farms, where the farmer identity sort of 350 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,160 Speaker 1: comes first. In a lot of cases, well, it's more 351 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 1: about the food as politics rather than the the food 352 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: coming second to politics and personal politics. Although they did 353 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 1: have their own Indian magazines and newsletters like Country Women, 354 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,880 Speaker 1: which I wish I could still subscribe. And while they 355 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: were successful in demonstrating the fact that oh look, hey, 356 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: women can actually grow well some women, not me. Typically 357 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: women can actually grow plants, they can farm, they can 358 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: be successful growers. This movement, and this has been a 359 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: criticism of many parts of Second Way feminism. This movement 360 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,639 Speaker 1: was mostly made up of white, middle class radical feminists, 361 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,399 Speaker 1: and it highlights the racial disparity that still to some 362 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: extent exists within local food and c s A and 363 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: the farmers market movements. Yeah, I mean these a lot 364 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: of these women who were part of the Land Movement 365 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: met in liberal arts colleges. For instance. You're coming from 366 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:13,679 Speaker 1: a privileged position when you in the background of say cushi, 367 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:19,359 Speaker 1: you're sort of higher education context. Separate yourself willfully and 368 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: pursue this kind of lifestyle, which which will directly contrast 369 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: actually what we're going to talk about in our next 370 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: podcast with Dolora Suerta and the Chicano civil rights movement 371 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:34,400 Speaker 1: happening in California around the same time. But when you 372 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: look at your local C. S A today, when you 373 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: go to your local farmers market today, there are lots 374 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,679 Speaker 1: of questions that are being raised about who those farmers 375 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: markets and that wonderful organic sustainable agriculture is feeding. Because 376 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: if you look at lower income areas and areas that 377 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 1: might have higher concentrations of people of color, they're off 378 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: in food deserts. They don't have as much access, and 379 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 1: the food that we're talking about is often more expensive. 380 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: It's usually too expensive for me, Caroline, and it is 381 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: important to bring up these disparities that exist within things 382 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: like the organic food movement, within the farmers market movement 383 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: and the rise and farmers market popularity. But side note 384 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,240 Speaker 1: fun fact to Schegee professor Dr book Or T. Watley's 385 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: pick your Own Farms and clientele membership Club's idea in 386 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: the early nineteen eighties was really what laid the groundwork 387 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: for c S a S. Though credit is usually attributed 388 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,880 Speaker 1: to other people. Yeah, we read about that in Mother 389 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: Earth News and we wanted to mention it just because 390 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: it is an example of often the erasure of farmers 391 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: of color, which is what we wanted to talk about 392 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,640 Speaker 1: as well, because black farmers make up just about two 393 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:59,919 Speaker 1: percent of the total farming population. And when it comes 394 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,400 Speaker 1: to agriculture and people of color and we're talking about 395 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: the United States, no big surprise that there's been a 396 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:12,920 Speaker 1: lot of structural racism embedded within the industries. I mean, 397 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 1: going back even pre slavery, just to the days of 398 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 1: out and outland theft from Native Americans taking their farmland, 399 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:25,400 Speaker 1: to then slavery and then share cropping, and then today 400 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: with these massive agribusinesses and its reliance on immigrant labor, 401 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: often cheap and exploited immigrant labor, which again we'll get 402 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,879 Speaker 1: way more into in our next episode. But so you 403 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: can understand then how it's sort of a complicated issue 404 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,719 Speaker 1: sometimes when people of color want to come back and 405 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: reclaim that land because it's so deeply embedded. Our country's 406 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: relationship with people of color and agriculture is so deeply embedded. Well, 407 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,520 Speaker 1: it's been something that families have tried to climb out of, 408 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: and so for some people today it would seem regressive 409 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: to then want to go back and farm. And in fact, 410 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: I mean the relationship between farmers of color in the U. S. 411 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: Government is still a testy one because many have filed 412 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,640 Speaker 1: civil suits against the U. S. D A but receiving 413 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 1: less government funding compared to white farmers. So there are 414 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: still questions of discrimination. And then when we talk about 415 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: women farmers of color, who we have layers of discrimination 416 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,159 Speaker 1: upon layers of discrimination. Yeah. But it's interesting though that 417 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 1: a greater proportion of women of color operate farms than 418 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: do white women, because if you look back to stats 419 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: from fourteen percent of female principal farm operators were African 420 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 1: American versus twenty percent of them being Asian and thirty 421 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: percent were Native American, compared toent of female principal farm 422 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,199 Speaker 1: operators who were white in twenty twelve and because of 423 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: you know, the existence of this diversity, but at the 424 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: same time still going back to our collective idea of 425 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,200 Speaker 1: what a farmer looks like. It's old McDonald. It's usually 426 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,680 Speaker 1: an older white gentleman. Or the pitchfork and a plaid 427 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: shirt and overalls, a little straw hat, right, a nontractor. 428 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: Natasha Bowen's a k A Brown Girl farming started blogging 429 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: about diversity and farming and also started something called the 430 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 1: Color of Food Project to document the lives and the 431 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: crops of farmers of color around the United States. Yeah, 432 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: this was really interesting looking at women who, like you 433 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: said Kristen, felt almost compelled to leave rural areas, especially 434 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 1: in the Southeast, to leave those rural areas, leave that 435 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: history that is so the racial aspects intertwined with agriculture, 436 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,120 Speaker 1: to leave that all behind. And then how when they 437 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,719 Speaker 1: got older they realized, no, what I want to do 438 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,480 Speaker 1: is go back to the land, whether it's to whether 439 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: it's a political statement, or whether it's to really just 440 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 1: take care of my family, your community. Like the example 441 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: of the woman in the Lower ninth Ward in New 442 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: Orleans starting a garden to feed that community, yeah, And 443 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: if you look at Natasha bow and herself, she has 444 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: a really interesting take on farming and femininity because she 445 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,159 Speaker 1: says that I've personally never felt more like a woman 446 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: then the first time I dug my hands into the soil. 447 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: And that's a statement that may not align with what 448 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: society defines as feminine getting our hands dirty, writing tractors, 449 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:34,399 Speaker 1: hurting cattle. So affirming that feminine identity with the land 450 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,119 Speaker 1: and finding that solidarity while out on the road for 451 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: the Color of Food was so important to me. And 452 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: I love that because you really can argue that either 453 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: way that farming is super traditionally feminine if we go 454 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: all the way back to hunter gatherers men hunting, maybe 455 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 1: women gathering and farming um or if you go all 456 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: the way to the other side and say that it's 457 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: it's totally unexpected, it's non traditional work for women well, 458 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: and for a lot of people, farming is radical as well. 459 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: A lot of what Bowen's has discovered and talked about 460 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: through the Color of Food project is the food justice movement, 461 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: that intersection of you know, providing this kind of healthy, 462 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: sustainable food for these communities that are usually not so 463 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: linked in with their local farmers markets UM and she 464 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: says that women are leading the food justice movement for 465 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 1: farm workers, and she calls out examples like the Coalition 466 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:42,479 Speaker 1: of Immokali Workers in Florida UM also women like Soru 467 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: Jerriaman of Roku United, the author of Behind the Kitchen 468 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: Door that talks about injustice of women working in the 469 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: food system's restaurant industry. She says, the impact is heavy 470 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: on every level from farm to table when it comes 471 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: to women in our overall all food system, from seed 472 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: to table. And we're also seeing a rise in organizations 473 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: like Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network that helped train 474 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: and mentor Black organic farmers. But it's interesting about that organization. 475 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: While it is certainly not focused solely on women, what 476 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: people within that organization have noticed is that more and 477 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: more people that they're dealing with are women. There women farmers, 478 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: especially in the Southeast, who are seeking more resources, basically 479 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: more kind of like friends in the farming business. And 480 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: in addition to farmers of color organizing getting more recognition 481 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: and really fighting for food justice and seeing those intersections 482 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: between identity politics and what is on our plates, we 483 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: also have to talk about LGBT farmers who are another 484 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 1: group challenging the status quo of who can be a 485 00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: farmer and what a farmer looks like. And this was 486 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: something that was really publicized on a more national level 487 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: by Jonah Mossburg's documentary out Here Yeah. The documentary highlighted 488 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: a queer grassroots farming movement around the country basically, and 489 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,760 Speaker 1: for Mossburg, he said that living in a rural setting 490 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: really helped him to get more comfortable in his own skin. 491 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: He says that it made me feel strong, it made 492 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,480 Speaker 1: me feel like everyone else around me, because Mossberg is 493 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: a trans farmer. And what's so interesting in listening to 494 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 1: not only what Mossburg has to say, but talking to 495 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,200 Speaker 1: other farmers too, is that he makes it clear that 496 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: sort of the farming identity is almost above everything else, 497 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:45,480 Speaker 1: and that when you are farming, when you've got your 498 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 1: hands in the dirt, when you're in touch with the 499 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: land or you know the animals that you're raising, it's 500 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:53,479 Speaker 1: almost kind of an equalizer. And so I love this 501 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:55,720 Speaker 1: idea that we saw in a couple of different places 502 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: about how minority farmers, whether you're a woman, a woman 503 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: of color, an LGBT farmer, you're you're queering the farming system, 504 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 1: and that it's less about being gay, being lesbian, being 505 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: a trans farmer, and so much more about just being 506 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: almost an unexpected farmer, being an outsider who's working to 507 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: change that industry. Well, and we probably don't think of 508 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:24,840 Speaker 1: rural America as necessarily being a safe space for lgbt 509 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,760 Speaker 1: Q individuals, but Mossburg told Bitch magazine, and this was 510 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: also echoed by other farmers that you talked to in 511 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 1: out here. He said, quote, I think small scale sustainable 512 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: agriculture is inherently a logical and safe place for queer 513 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: people because it's a place where we can enact and 514 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: practice our queer values. And a lot of times in 515 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:50,440 Speaker 1: those farming communities, it seems like from the people that 516 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: they've talked to, it's more about the connection to the 517 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 1: land and the animals and what you are harvesting that 518 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 1: often is more more of a focal point than who 519 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: you are, if that makes sense. But it seems like 520 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: the common thread through all of these different groups of 521 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,680 Speaker 1: people is that they're bringing different perspectives to farming and 522 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: how important that is. I mean, just like when you 523 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: talk about getting different perspectives in any industry, in any 524 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:25,120 Speaker 1: line of work, and and what a difference that different 525 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 1: types of people can make, especially when it comes to 526 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 1: our own health and the food that we put in 527 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 1: our bodies. Yeah, and I was really hardened to see 528 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: as well that the USA, the U. S d A 529 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: has been supporting that queering of the farm system. Is 530 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:42,040 Speaker 1: Mossberg put it because it and the National Center for 531 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: Lesbian Rights now hosts a rural pride campaign, which is great. 532 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 1: And can I just mention my favorite quote from Mossburg 533 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 1: Um in which a bitch asked what the queerest vegetable 534 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,000 Speaker 1: was and he said, it's not rainbow charred. Everybody always 535 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,920 Speaker 1: says rainbow chart. There is, in fact, um an lgbt 536 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: Q farming group out in the San Francisco Bay area 537 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: that I think it's called the rainbow Chart Coalition. Um. 538 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 1: He says it's not that he thinks it's silariac and 539 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,400 Speaker 1: maybe you want to go buy it. Immediately I know 540 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: is description of cooking with it. I was like, oh man, 541 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: I need to get my boyfriend to cook with this. 542 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,320 Speaker 1: And what about there? There was also um a goat 543 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: farmer who runs a farm called like Stassy Nanny's or 544 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,279 Speaker 1: something like that and makes incredible cheese. It was great 545 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: to just see all these profiles of you know, these 546 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 1: lgbt Q farmers, these farmers of color, these women farmers, 547 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,319 Speaker 1: all of these people who are reclaiming land in their 548 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,239 Speaker 1: own ways, and also considering, Caroline, how much it contrasts 549 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:56,400 Speaker 1: my day today, highly urbanized life, and imagining what what 550 00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 1: a joy that pace must be like. I mean, they're 551 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: waking up a lot earlier than I am, I'm sure, 552 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:09,200 Speaker 1: and farming is not easy by any means, um, But 553 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:13,399 Speaker 1: just to think about how much those people that we've 554 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: been talking about and reading about appreciate the land and 555 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 1: what they do so much, um economy me want to 556 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,719 Speaker 1: go be a farmer, to be honest. Yeah, I mean 557 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,479 Speaker 1: there was there was an attitude kind of in in 558 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: several of the people we read about who were sort 559 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: of opting out of that that urban uh nine to 560 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 1: five lifestyle, who were pursuing something different, whether it was 561 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,719 Speaker 1: for political reasons or purely personal wanting to get back 562 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,800 Speaker 1: in touch with them more quote unquote a more natural 563 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 1: way of living, of of living off the land, and 564 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,400 Speaker 1: just just fascinating to see how that idea of what 565 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:58,240 Speaker 1: a farmer looks like is absolutely changing. So I really 566 00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 1: hope there are some farmers listening. Urban farmers, community gardeners. 567 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 1: I don't care if you can grow plants. Hey, you're 568 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 1: a farmer in our book. We want to hear from 569 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 1: you though. Mom Stuff at how stuff works dot com 570 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: is our email address, um and any thoughts on sustainable agriculture, 571 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: food deserts, food justice and this idea of queering our 572 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:23,600 Speaker 1: food system. Let us know all of your thoughts. Mom 573 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:25,640 Speaker 1: stuff at how stuff works dot com again is our 574 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,000 Speaker 1: email address. You can also tweet us at mom stuff 575 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 1: podcasts or messages on Facebook. And we've got a couple 576 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: of messages to share with you when we come right 577 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,080 Speaker 1: back from a quick break. And now back to the show. 578 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:43,839 Speaker 1: So I have a letter here about our episode on 579 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,160 Speaker 1: passive aggressive behavior. And you know, in the episode, we 580 00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:51,680 Speaker 1: pointed out that the stereotype is that for women are 581 00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:54,279 Speaker 1: passive aggressive than men, that it's totally a woman thing, 582 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 1: but that in reality it's way more of a kind 583 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,279 Speaker 1: of fifty split. And so we have a letter here 584 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 1: from Brittany kind of talking about that. She says just 585 00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: wanted to stay a great job on the passive aggressive 586 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,120 Speaker 1: episode of the podcast. When I first saw the title, 587 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,920 Speaker 1: I thought, oh, yeah, I definitely think it's more gendered 588 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:15,960 Speaker 1: towards females, But as you discussed it, I actually felt 589 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: like my husband fit a lot of these categories, but 590 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:22,759 Speaker 1: in different ways. I can't believe the term oh, I'm 591 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:27,240 Speaker 1: only kidding never came up. We've had so many conversations 592 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,320 Speaker 1: about this in my relationship. I feel like my husband 593 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: is constantly teasing or giving smart slash harsh remarks in 594 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:37,120 Speaker 1: the name of humor, and now I'm wondering if that's 595 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:40,560 Speaker 1: just his version of being passive aggressive. For what it's worth, 596 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 1: he claims it's a remnant of his time in the military, 597 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:46,560 Speaker 1: which ties him perfectly to the beginning of that episode. 598 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,800 Speaker 1: I think girl on girl passive aggressiveness maybe more common 599 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:53,800 Speaker 1: than male on male passive aggression, but I would argue 600 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 1: that when it comes to straight cis gender relationships between 601 00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 1: males and females, both platonic and roman antic, they're equally 602 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 1: full of passive aggressiveness on both sides, even if it 603 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:09,640 Speaker 1: displays differently, perhaps because of ingrained beliefs and physical power. 604 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:13,000 Speaker 1: Descript and sees question Mark. Thanks for the podcast and 605 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: thanks for all you do, and thank you Brittany. Well, Caroline. 606 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:20,000 Speaker 1: I have a letter here also from a Brittany, and 607 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:24,840 Speaker 1: it's on our O c D podcast, UM and Brittany writes, 608 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,440 Speaker 1: I wanted to share my youngest brother's story. He was 609 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,719 Speaker 1: completely quote normal as a young child, and suddenly, when 610 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 1: he was about thirteen or fourteen, he began to exhibit intense, 611 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 1: typically O c D like symptoms. He washed his hands 612 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:40,880 Speaker 1: to the point that they cracked in blood. He would 613 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:42,920 Speaker 1: only use one bathroom out of the four in my 614 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:46,040 Speaker 1: parents home because he felt that was the only clean one, 615 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:50,200 Speaker 1: even though my parents got the very clean house. After 616 00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:53,040 Speaker 1: taking him to the therapist for months with no results 617 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:57,279 Speaker 1: and in fact worsening symptoms, my frustrated mom resorted to 618 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,520 Speaker 1: researching his symptoms for self and came across a rare 619 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:07,320 Speaker 1: syndrome called PANDOUS, which stands for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders 620 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:11,919 Speaker 1: associated with streptococcal infections. Basically, it's a mouthful that means 621 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:16,120 Speaker 1: kids who have had strepped sometimes develop an autoimmune reaction 622 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:19,120 Speaker 1: to the bacteria, which causes their immune system to begin 623 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:22,400 Speaker 1: attacking their brains, leading to symptoms that can look like 624 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 1: O c D or other psychiatric disorders. It turns out 625 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:29,000 Speaker 1: that the existence of pandas is not agreed upon in 626 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,759 Speaker 1: the medical community, and my brother's pediatrician wouldn't take my 627 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:35,720 Speaker 1: mother's inquiry about it seriously. My mom didn't give up there, however, 628 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:39,480 Speaker 1: and went to locate an immunologists slash PANDAS specialist a 629 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,480 Speaker 1: few hours away. In one visit, the specialists confirmed my 630 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: brother's diagnosis as PANDAS rather than true O c D. 631 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:49,359 Speaker 1: He was prescribed a heavy round of antibiotics to kill 632 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,680 Speaker 1: off the strep bacteria. Within a week of taking the antibiotics, 633 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,640 Speaker 1: my brother's symptoms were noticeably improved, and within a month 634 00:39:55,719 --> 00:39:58,640 Speaker 1: he was back to normal. I just wanted to share 635 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:00,719 Speaker 1: this in case it might be helpful to other listeners, 636 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,520 Speaker 1: especially since pandist can mask itself as O c D, 637 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,080 Speaker 1: but is in fact very rare and hard to diagnose. 638 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:10,799 Speaker 1: So thanks for the heads of Brittany, and thanks to 639 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,120 Speaker 1: everybody who's written into us. Mom steven House. Stuff works 640 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:16,320 Speaker 1: dot Com is where you can send us your letters 641 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:18,680 Speaker 1: and links to all of our social media as well 642 00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:22,040 Speaker 1: as all of our blogs, videos and podcasts, including this 643 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:25,520 Speaker 1: one with our sources, so you can see all of 644 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:29,200 Speaker 1: those modern farmer articles I am ow obsessed with. Head 645 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:35,799 Speaker 1: on over to Stuff Mom Never told You dot com 646 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:38,440 Speaker 1: for moral this, and thousands of other topics. Is it 647 00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:47,560 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com