Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture, a New Social Contract: Edited by Charles A. Francis, Raymond P. Poincelet, and George W. Bird. Haworth Food and Agricultural Products Press, New York. 2006. 367 pp. $69.95. ISBN-10: 1560223316; ISBN-13: 9781560223313.

摘要

DEVELOPING and Extending Sustainable Agriculture, a New Social Contract is a collection of essays by several authors, most of whom are involved with cooperative extension programs and midwestern land grant universities. Charles A. Francis of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, is the primary author or coauthor of 7 of the book's 16 chapters and is the first editor listed, so his influence is especially important throughout. Many chapters describe extension and applied research programs created to help farmers and farm communities cope with the harsh economic pressures that continue to affect rural America, emphasizing here the north-central region of the United States, including the Corn Belt. Most of the authors advocate fundamental changes to the prevailing agricultural system in the Corn Belt, characterized as large-scale, intensive corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.] cropping systems, dependent on national and international commodity markets. Many of the authors foresee gradual or even catastrophic failure for the current agricultural system of the region, if not economically, then socially or ecologically. The answers to the problems with this system are alternative approaches to crop and livestock production. Collectively, they are called sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture includes the development of alternative farming systems that add or substitute different crops, which can be sold through more local markets. Sustainable agriculture farms may integrate livestock and crop production effectively.