In his new book, Feeding the World as if People Mattered: How Small Farms Produce Value Beyond Yields, anthropologist Andrew Flachs explores the food system through the lens of human values. Smaller and more biodiverse farms contribute so much to soil health, human health, biodiversity, and rural communities—even as those very same values are degraded by big monoculture farms. By expanding our accounting to include people and the biosphere—not just yields and profits—we could have a thriving food system that actually benefits life itself.
Andrew Flachs is an associate professor of anthropology at Purdue University.
To get 30% off this book, you can order it from the University of Arizona Press and use the code AZFLR at checkout.
TIMELINE
5’09 agriculture has been destructive, especially since the 1400s, but not always, it can improve the earth and ecosystems
7’58 the rise of global empires, and the effect on agriculture–the commodification of nature
9’49 taking a broader look at farms–not just yields and quantity, but all the other things that go into farming, including human, soil, etc.
11’31 the idea of production and reproduction–the importance of not just reproducing food, but also farms and farmers
14’42 harder to externalize the ill effects of a farm when you’re living on it
15’50 one of the inspiration for factories was the plantation, whose model was based on mining and the idea of interchangeability
19’14 how do you do a new accounting that internalizes the externalities
21’11 how the use of spreadsheets affects how farmers work
23’39 calculating in all the different kinds of work, including education
24’35 reframing labor as an investment rather than something to be minimized
27’13 farming is a business, but it’s not like other businesses because it’s so deeply connected to life–and when you degrade the systems, the costs to society and the biosphere are huge
30’34 Andrew’s observations of cotton farming in India
33’09 the irony if efficiency
37’29 the value of biodiversity on cotton farms, but it’s up against the push for monocultures and profit-driven agriculture. But on organic farms there’s actual biodiversity
42’35 gardens in Bosnia and the meaning of community and mutual aid
46’54 the idea of “quiet sustainability” that gets people through very bad times
49’16 the role of religion in the way people think about farming and sharing
52’32 the metaphor of the iceberg–paid work is above water, but it’s held up by so much unpaid labor and community relationships
56’35 is growth necessary in farming?
1:01’33 how to we make good choices in the face of bad policy, barring total collapse of society
1:02’36 good programs, like local food procurement programs, that arose during the COVID pandemic
1:03’32 the power of school meal programs
1:06’02 consolidation hurts the economies of rural communities; and when you have local food policies, then rural areas begin to thrive again
1:07’57 how do you get more farmers?
1:14’31 if you want to have sustainable agriculture, you need to have sustainable communities
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