December
1, 2003: In ancient Rome, writers were careful to
speak of agriculture as two things: agri and cultura (the
fields and the culture). “It is only very recently,”
Pretty writes in his current book, “that we have filleted
out the culture and replaced it with commodity.”
Therefore, in eight chapters, Pretty asks “Can we put
the culture back into agri-culture without compromising the
need to produce enough food? Can we create sustainable systems
of farming that are efficient and fair and founded on a detailed
understanding of the benefits of agroecology and people’s
capacity to cooperate?”
Like the interdisciplinary scholar that he is, Pretty winds
through history, literature, economic data, current case studies
and traditional practices to show that cultural ideas such
as the productiveness of land (fens are planted to corn because
grain production is productive while wastewater recharging
is not), the usefulness of one’s labor (tilling the
soil is “admirable” whereas gathering wild foods
is “lazy”) and one’s accountability to others
(land ownership is trustworthy whereas land held in common
is squandered) have created the agriculture we have today.
By reexamining and reshaping our culture, then distilling
the result with the best practices learned through serious
agroecological research, we will have an agriculture that
feeds society both physically and spiritually especially if
we can find polite ways (Pretty is a remarkably gentle revolutionary)
to sideline the current power structure which profits from
the status quo.
Like all books, this one has its weaknesses. The chapter
on genetic modification is exceptionally poor which suggests
that Pretty does very well when asked to interpret and explain
“big picture” concepts, but falls short when he
must choose and explain very specific scientific studies.
A better understanding of commercial seed quality standards
and maize population genetics would have prevented some serious
blunders in this chapter.
However, the chapter on ecological literacy should be read
by all those who run or are planning to run a Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA) project. If your CSA is floundering, read
the chapter twice! To be successful, a CSA grower must not
only provide food, but also a cultural experience that can
create trust, offer connections to a place and a people and
ultimately, build a new commons in which people respect each
other and the natural resources around them.
Just as there are steps to building soil, there are steps,
just as necessary in a CSA project, to build the necessary
social capital which creates the membership’s trust
and understanding which carries the growers through a difficult
season so they may till the land the following year rather
than selling it to the highest bidder. “Trust,”
says Pretty, “takes time to build, but is easily diminished.”
Accept, perhaps, that your CSA’s soil is regenerating
faster than its social capital, but neglect either to your
peril!
With quiet words, endnotes full of citations, tables and
graphs and concrete examples from around the world, Pretty
shows that by integrating “the fields and the culture,”
the dream of a world with enough food and enough meaning for
its inhabitants is possible. If you enjoy Pretty’s interdisciplinary
approach, you might also enjoy reading the research he oversees
as Director of the University of Essex’s Centre for
Environment and Society at http://www2.essex.ac.uk/ces/default.htm#top
A final note: I’ve been reviewing books for several
years now, but this is the first book that, no matter where
I went, people interrupted my reading to ask who had painted
the front cover. The beautiful, yet haunting landscapes on
the cover and beginning each chapter were created by John
Pretty, the author’s father. His work can be seen at
http://www.johnrpretty.co.uk/
Dorene Pasekoff is coordinator of St. John’s United
Church of Christ Organic Community Garden Phoenixville, PA
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