Ted Genoways

One would have guessed that today's Nebraska farmer would be more financially, scientifically, technologically, commercially and politically attuned but to the degree and depth presented by Mr Genoways is mind blowing. Measuring the ground moisture at harvest time or holding a crop off market in hopes of getting a better price at a later time would be examples of the details a modern farmer has to attend to. The author who lived and lives in the Nebraska farm community also points out the show more many dangers present to the American farming system. Nebraska is shown to be better than most states in preserving the precious waters of Olgala Aquafer but even in that state there is worry of depleting this fundamental resource. Worry about the ever growing bigness of the farms is presented. There is an element or heroics in this story and also a lot to be sober and watchful about how food gets to the rest of us.

Quotes: (page 139) “He publicly referred to small farmers as 'irresponsible feeders at the public trough' and vowed to return to a system where the greatest profits went to the largest producers. Small farmers hated him for it, but Benson was unflagging. In 1957, at the National Corn Picking Contest in South Dakota, he delivered a speech on the evils of federal farm aid despite a hail of eggs from angry farmers.
Foreshadowing today's aggressive, pro-corporate agricultural policies, Benson argued that the only way to out compete the collective farms of the Soviet Union and Red China was to use our superior corn and chemical technology to the fullest. The United States could, if it chose, overproduce corn to drive down international prices, and it could use the surplus as a tool of diplomatic leverage in the form of foreign aid. Instead of guns, the United States began to give our allies grain---transforming, for the first item a food product into a weapon in the national arsenal.”

(page 152) “The precision is stunning, and the knowledge demanded of farmers, most of whom consult with agronomists but ultimately decide what to plant on their own, seems impossible to fathom---but impossible to escape. A quarter of a century ago, Round Up ready crops didn't exist; today, they are 90 percent of the soybean market and nearly three-quarters of the corn and rice markets. And on the strength of that success, Monsanto and Dupont Pioneer have grown into global seed giants, now controlling 45 percent of all seed sold in the world. Short of going completely organic and dropping out of growing commodity grains, how is a farmer supposed to avoid raising corn and soybeans that have been genetically modified to withstand Roundup?”

(page 173) “Rick turned a yellow dial until it locked into place with a hollow clank. The royal blue control panel, emblazoned with the logo for Valley Irrigation, hummed into life, and across the windswept field, a light atop the enormous center-pivot irrigation system started to blink. 'That means everything is on,' he said. The metal behemoth of the pivot stretched a quarter of a mile from end to end. Its humped spine and rib-like trusses, girding an array of dangling hoses and sprinkler heads, looked like a skeleton of some kind of robot Brontosaurus, poised to waken from its prehistoric slumber. Rick tipped his cowboy hat back with his thumb to get a closer look at the digital display. He checked the speed and pump pressure, to make sure the wellhead was still off. “ show less

Genoways looks at particular cases in the meat packing industry, specific workers and Hormel-supplying plants, delving into the workers’ struggles, the corporate responses, and the broader effects of these companies. Perhaps only the subtitle of the book was a lie; Genoways makes no attempt at a universal survey of agriculture today, and the book would be worse if he did. His writing style is smooth, with a placating professional tone occasionally broken by liberal outrage. After also show more reading [b:Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon|26109029|Pit Bull The Battle over an American Icon|Bronwen Dickey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1445789865l/26109029._SY75_.jpg|46054417], I’m beginning to wonder if this tone is an unavoidable result of experience or exposure to Virginia Quarterly Review editorial staff.
The book was better than I thought it would be, from what I know about Genoways. An interesting read, but no masterwork. show less

This is a good issue. It's easy to get immersed in the articles on Burma. The only problem is that the first article, written by the interim editor, is full of typos and awkward sentences.

Good issue. The articles on Mogadishu and the African faith healer were eye opening. The gem, of course, is Joe Sacco's graphic-novel reporting on the Dalits of India.