Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 7.13 History and Social Sciences
Presentation #1 Title
Seeking the Good Life on a Farm in Blue Ridge Appalachia: How Emerging Farmers, Not from a Farming Background, Negotiate Access to Land
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Appalachian scholar and activist Helen Matthews Lewis writes that “It is important to talk and plan together for the future, to have dreams and hopes and visions.” Lewis believes in an equitable system; where all stakeholders hold a voice and can determine their own community’s future. It’s important to understand the stories of the landscape; how people negotiate changes and plan for a more resilient future. This paper seeks to understand how individuals, not from an agricultural background, are transitioning into farming in Blue Ridge Appalachia. From this work, a conversation should emerge, where alternatives can be presented to counteract current hardships and a more sustainable future can be discussed. Farm loss represents a steady reality in Blue Ridge Appalachia. Between 2002 and 2007, 472 farms ceased operating on 30,321 acres in Watauga County, North Carolina and its five surrounding counties, as the average age of principal farm operators retire or seek off-farm occupations. However, amidst this change, entrants not from a farming background are drawn to working with the land. These individuals may not hold the cultural, economic, and social capital to initially farm on their own land. How these emerging farmers develop unique strategies for obtaining these different forms of capital is imperative in understanding how a sustainable food system is formed. This requires a study of the land and how the people negotiate the land, or as John Gaventa writes, seeking to understand the “‘peoples’ knowledge of land.” This paper seeks to tell these unique stories.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
David Walker is an Appalachian Studies graduate student with a concentration in Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University. His research focuses on gathering places, participatory development, and land use in Blue Ridge Appalachia.
Seeking the Good Life on a Farm in Blue Ridge Appalachia: How Emerging Farmers, Not from a Farming Background, Negotiate Access to Land
Harris Hall 130
Appalachian scholar and activist Helen Matthews Lewis writes that “It is important to talk and plan together for the future, to have dreams and hopes and visions.” Lewis believes in an equitable system; where all stakeholders hold a voice and can determine their own community’s future. It’s important to understand the stories of the landscape; how people negotiate changes and plan for a more resilient future. This paper seeks to understand how individuals, not from an agricultural background, are transitioning into farming in Blue Ridge Appalachia. From this work, a conversation should emerge, where alternatives can be presented to counteract current hardships and a more sustainable future can be discussed. Farm loss represents a steady reality in Blue Ridge Appalachia. Between 2002 and 2007, 472 farms ceased operating on 30,321 acres in Watauga County, North Carolina and its five surrounding counties, as the average age of principal farm operators retire or seek off-farm occupations. However, amidst this change, entrants not from a farming background are drawn to working with the land. These individuals may not hold the cultural, economic, and social capital to initially farm on their own land. How these emerging farmers develop unique strategies for obtaining these different forms of capital is imperative in understanding how a sustainable food system is formed. This requires a study of the land and how the people negotiate the land, or as John Gaventa writes, seeking to understand the “‘peoples’ knowledge of land.” This paper seeks to tell these unique stories.
