The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture

Farmers Who Don't Farm: The Curious Rise of the Zero-Sales Farmer

“…Zero-sales farms have a particularly significant impact on data regarding minority, women, and beginning farmers, since farmers in these groups are disproportionately likely to be zero-sales operators. In particular, claims that the numbers of minority, women, and beginning farmers have risen since 1997, which are commonly made by the USDA, journalists, and researchers alike (e.g., Harvey, 2016;Raftery, 2011;Sachs et al, 2016;USDA NASS, 2014b) should be re-examined in light of these new data. Further research will be needed to clarify the extent to which COA results for these groups have been affected by changes in COA methodology and implementation, as well as the rise of zero-sales farms.…”

“…Until 2007, the COA counted all farms within each Native American reservation as a single farm, which led to severe undercounts (Bartecchi, 2009;USDA NASS, 2009). 1 Women operators are disproportionately more likely to operate small-scale farms (Sachs, Barbercheck, Braiser, Kiernan, & Terman, 2016), which has contributed to their being undercounted in the COA.…”

Queer Farmers: Sexuality and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture

“…Trauger () argues that women are transgressing traditional gender roles by claiming the identity of “farmer,” and are more comfortable doing this in sustainable than industrial agricultural spaces. Women are more likely to report being the principal operators on U.S.‐certified organic farms (22 percent) than farms in general (12 percent), but these statistics likely underreport the actual number of women farming (Brasier et al ; Sachs et al ; U.S. Department of Agriculture ). Although the title “farmer” is typically associated with heterosexual men (Campbell, Bell, and Finney 2006), women play critical roles in food systems (Allen and Sachs ), and are increasingly identifying as farmers (Brasier et al ; Sachs et al ).…”

“…Women are more likely to report being the principal operators on U.S.‐certified organic farms (22 percent) than farms in general (12 percent), but these statistics likely underreport the actual number of women farming (Brasier et al ; Sachs et al ; U.S. Department of Agriculture ). Although the title “farmer” is typically associated with heterosexual men (Campbell, Bell, and Finney 2006), women play critical roles in food systems (Allen and Sachs ), and are increasingly identifying as farmers (Brasier et al ; Sachs et al ). Women may be attracted to sustainable farming for the feelings of independence and autonomy it affords, the opportunity to do traditionally masculine tasks, and “a work culture that does not emphasize mechanization or synthetic chemical use” (Trauger :304).…”

“…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.…”