Barnyards and Birkenstocks: Why Farmers and Environmentalists Need Each Other - Softcover

Críticas

"The author is uniquely qualified to comment on the conflicts and common interests of farmers and environmentalists from long experience on both sides. People...will find [his] insights on the two camps extremely useful in tailoring programs effectively." -- Dennis Canty "Pacific Northwest Regional Director, American Farmland Trust and"

"[Don Stuart] forcefully makes the case that there is significant peril to the goals of each [side] if the current stalemate over environmental concerns about farming operations continues unresolved. This book is a valuable resource for farmers, environmentalists, academics, policymakers, students, and regulators." -- Peter Goldmark "Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands"

Reseña del editor

Rural America is struggling. Family agriculture is gradually fading, and prime farmland is often converted into environmentally harmful applications. But food cultivation has ecological consequences, too. Farms consume eighty percent of the nation's water. Although they often prevent sprawling development, improve water quality, or provide wildlife habitat, they also pollute rivers, drain wetlands, or emit destructive greenhouse gasses.

Don Stuart believes two dangerous trends--the loss of farms and damage to ecosystems--are connected, and that a major cause is the political deadlock between farmers and environmental activists. He offers a radical proposal: collaboration. To promote empathy and point out the costs of continued political impasse, he presents opposing perspectives. Topics include incentives, regulations, government spending, environmental markets, growth management, climate change, public lands grazing, and the Federal Farm Bill. Drawing from a lifetime spent settling conflicts, he identifies characteristics of successful community programs to suggest a model for a prosperous, healthy future.