Abstract
Industrial grain production occupies most of Iowa's farmland. Around the edges of corn and soybean monocultures, however, small-scale, diversified farmers establish alternative agricultural operations and sell to local markets. One narrative, "we feed the world", stretches across these two spheres; its roots lie in post-World War II geopolitics, and its contemporary iterations reflect the actions of private agricultural interest groups. As a rhetorical strategy, asserting "we feed the world" invokes neo-Malthusian fears to reposition differences in agricultural production systems within a moral framework where yield primarily determines agricultural legitimacy. This article ethnographically analyzes how this narrative intersects the lives and livelihoods of conventional and alternative farmers alike. Today, the narrative serves three functions: defending industrial agricultural systems against criticisms,justifying the pursuit of ever-higher yields on moral grounds, and gatekeeping agricultural legitimacy. Examining this discursive mechanism yields insight into the diversity of strategies through which actors within the industrial agricultural system reproduce particular land use practices in service of their own interests.
Highlights
Industrial grain production occupies most of Iowa's farmland
As we began cooking after a full day of working outside, our conversation had meandered to the question of how meaningful change could be created in Iowa's agriculture
In the heart of the Corn Belt, asserting "we feed the world" conjures beneficence in the face of undeniable environmental degradation and reinforces a Malthusian perspective that equates high yields with moral outcomes. This narrative creates a sense of shared identity and purpose
Summary
"But how do we end the 'we feed the world' mentality?" Rachel asked me, flipping a hamburger. The phrase "feed the world" bridged disparate conversations, newspapers, local radio segments, agricultural events, and keynote speeches It was as omnipresent as it was incongruous: every farmer with whom I worked sold their products exclusively to local markets—that is, they fed fellow Iowans, not the world. In 2019, like most years, Iowa ranked first in the country for corn, hog, laying hen, and egg production, and ranked second for soybean production (USDA NASS 2020) Public institutions, such as state agricultural research centers, and private institutions, such as commodity growers' associations, work with input suppliers and processors to expand the scale and profitability of grain production. As Janssen (2017: 199) notes in the only recent ethnography of Iowa's
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