Beyond “Inherit It or Marry It”: Exploring How Women Engaged in Sustainable Agriculture Access Farmland

Abstract

Despite an overall decrease in new farm operations, the number of women farm operators grew 30 percent between 2002 and 2007, with 300 percent growth since 1978. This research suggests, however, that opportunities for women have unfolded unevenly. We argue that women's opportunities to farm are affected by their social location and life course, suggesting that as their lives unfold across specific cultural and economic moments, different cohorts of women experience divergent opportunities to farm. Using in‐depth interviews with women engaged in sustainable farming in the Inland Northwest, this article examines how women access farmland. Our findings suggest three methods for access: (1) access through the traditional means of marrying a male farmer and then carving out space for one's self as a farmer; (2) access later in life after a life‐altering event like divorce and using personal financial means, such as retirement income or selling appreciated property; (3) access at a young age through the pooling of marital resources with a husband who works off the farm. Our research suggests that women's land access should not be presumed a progressive narrative and suggests the need for a more complex understanding of the challenges that women in agriculture face today despite their increased presence in farming.

“It's Definitely a Good Time to Be a Farmer”: Understanding the Changing Dynamics of Successor Creation in Late Modern Society

“…Researchers have shown the script to be gendered and strongly linked to the way in which farm labor is organized (Gasson ; Pilgeram and Amos ; Whatmore ). As Villa (:333) recognizes, “to be the oldest boy in a farm family made it natural and not questioned to take over the farm.” While the belief that farming is “in the blood” has been observed by numerous commentators (Gasson and Errington ; Silvasti ; Villa ), research shows how gendered expectations result in sons being socialized differently and subject to different expectations and pressures (particularly relating to involvement in farm work) from their younger and female siblings.…”

Queer Farmers: Sexuality and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture

“…Pilgeram and Amos () find that most women sustainable farmers obtain land through marriage, late in life using savings, or early in life with the help of a husband's off‐farm income. Importantly, women participate in sustainable agriculture not only because it may align with their ideals but because economically insecure women are only able to access small plots, which are made more viable through small‐scale sustainable agriculture than capital‐intensive industrial farming (Pilgeram and Amos ). Gender inequalities persist in sustainable agriculture (Hall and Mogyorody ; Pilgeram and Amos ; Sachs et al ).…”

“…Importantly, women participate in sustainable agriculture not only because it may align with their ideals but because economically insecure women are only able to access small plots, which are made more viable through small‐scale sustainable agriculture than capital‐intensive industrial farming (Pilgeram and Amos ). Gender inequalities persist in sustainable agriculture (Hall and Mogyorody ; Pilgeram and Amos ; Sachs et al ). Furthermore, none of the extant literature examines the experiences of transgender farmers, which may lend further insights into the role of gender in the transition to sustainable agriculture.…”

“…Whereas there is a rich and growing body of literature about the role of gender in sustainable agriculture (Campbell et al ; Ferrell ; Hall and Mogyorody ; Peter et al ; Sachs et al ; Trauger ), the role of sexuality and heteronormativity is largely absent, despite the fact that marriage, an institutionalized intimate relationship, is frequently how farmers access land and make ends meet (Pilgeram and Amos ). Rosenberg () argues that the term “family farm” was not in widespread use before the 1930s, and that 4‐H youth clubs, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “asserted that the economic and biological union between a revenue‐producing male ‘farmer’ and a nurturing ‘farmer's wife’ constituted both the ideal and normal form of organization for rural life” (89).…”

Aging in rural communities: Older persons’ narratives of relocating in place to maintain rural identity

“…As Pilgeram and Amos (2015) suggest, qualitative work can add to the body of literature about rural settings. The narratives in this study explored the daily, lived experience of 16 persons aged 62-89 now living in town having moved from more rural settings and roots.…”