Consumer-Driven Agriculture: Changing U.S. Demographics Influence Eating Habits

摘要

Beyond our bustling cities, America's farmlands are ostensibly a Norman Rockwell picture of calm and stability. Red barns, majestic silos, rustic farmhouses, and pastures of grazing livestock are reassuring images that recall a seemingly simpler age.Yet just beyond the old-fashioned barn door are the products of a telecommunications age that have transformed farming into a modern and global business. We find tractors equipped with global positioning systems for precision preparation and management of fields. Internet access to keep farmers abreast of current events and minute-by-minute changes in commodity prices, and sophisticated systems to manage risk, finances, and decisionmaking in a dynamic global marketplace. Today's commercial farmer can be as connected to the modern world as the urban entrepreneur.