Bobcat © Susan C. Morse
Farming and the Fate of Wild
Nature — Overview
Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature addresses an urgent
and complex issue facing communities and cultures throughout the
world: the need for heightened land stewardship and conservation
in an era of diminishing natural resources. Agricultural lands
in rural areas are being purchased for development. Water scarcities
are pitting urban and development expansion against agriculture
and conservation needs. The farming population is ageing and retiring,
while those who remain struggle against low commodity prices,
international competition, rising production costs, and the threat
of disappearing subsidies. We are living amidst a major extinction
crisis — much of it driven by agriculture — as well
as an increasing shift toward a global urban populace. The modern
diet, driven by a grain-fed livestock industry, is no longer connected
with the ecosystems that support it. In international circles,
experts are arguing that further intensification of agriculture
(through industrialization and genetically modification) will
be necessary to both feed an exploding human population and to
save what is left of wild biodiversity.
Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature: Essays in Conservation-based
Agriculture takes up where its predecessor, the award-winning
Farming with the Wild, left off. Featuring a wide range
of in-depth essays, articles, and other materials this book persuasively
demonstrates that farm and ranch operations which coexist with
wild nature are necessary to sustain biodiversity and beauty on
the landscape. In fact, as this invaluable educational resource
demonstrates, they are essential in the challenge of building
sane, healthy, and hopeful human societies.
Featuring previously published works by such authors as Aldo
Leopold, Wendell Berry, and Michael Pollan as well as new works
by leaders in the field of conservation-based agriculture, including
Fred Kirschenmann, Daniel Imhoff, and others.
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