Book Review

In A Green and Permanent Land, Randal S. Beeman and James A. Pritchard examine the relationship between agriculture and ecology that developed throughout the last century. Although many people tend to think of ecological consciousness in agriculture as a feature of the post–World War II period or even the 1960s onward, Beeman and Pritchard show that the movement has much deeper roots and a much longer history than is commonly understood. Currently known as sustainable agriculture, the movement has had many names and several incarnations, but all with the same goals: to preserve the land and its resources while producing healthful food and healthy rural communities. The authors develop the major strands of this thought and provide an introduction to the major actors in the movement. They also show how the idea of sustainable agriculture has become powerful enough in the last thirty years to encourage the United States Department of Agriculture to begin incorporating its ideas into policy and to force agribusiness to include the environmental theme in its advertising. Land-grant colleges, once hostile, now teach sustainable agriculture. Organic farming, once considered insignificant, has become an accepted and increasingly important part of American agriculture.

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