Deeply Rooted

Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness

Portraits of a Texas dairyman, a New Mexico rancher, and a North Dakota farmer who “embody the future of American agriculture” (Alice Waters).
 
A century of industrialization has left our food system riddled with problems. For solutions, we look to nutritionists and government agencies, scientists and chefs. Lisa M. Hamilton asks: Why not look to the people who grow our food?
 
Here, Hamilton talks in-depth with three unconventional farmers: an African-American dairyman in Texas who plays David to the Goliath of agribusiness corporations; a tenth-generation rancher in New Mexico struggling to restore agriculture as a pillar of his crumbling community; and a modern pioneer family in North Dakota breeding new varieties of plants to face the future’s double threat: Monsanto and global warming.
 
With threads of history woven through the tales, exploring how farmers have been pushed to the margins of agriculture and transformed from leaders to laborers, this portrait of three unusual characters and their surprising stories makes the case that in order to correct what has gone wrong with the food system, we must first bring farmers back to the table.
 
“Hamilton’s in-depth portraits of independent farmers offer invaluable perspectives on American agriculture, past and present, while offering hope for a life-sustaining future.” —Booklist