Stories of the Land: Diverse Agricultural Histories in the U.S.

Culture

An image of two people exhanging produce that says Story, Folklife, Youth.

Among the first things one learns from the practice of agriculture, whether one comes to it by birthright—raised in the country—or transplanted from the city, is that farming is not a mere mechanical, scientific, or even economic enterprise, but a social and thus cultural one.

—Thomas F. Pawlick, journalist ¹⁹

Here, we take in the cultural dimensions of agriculture: the art, the stories, and the social events that shape and are shaped by the occupational practices of farming. More than a science, more than an Industry, agriculture is deeply embedded in social life and historical memory. But there is no singular expression of agrarian culture in the United States. By exploring some of the Stories, Folklife, and Youth activities showcased in public broadcasting throughout the decades, this Anchor invites you to consider how diverse stories can connect through shared issues of education, finance, opportunity, and remembrance.

Stories play an intimate role in constructing and remembering the past. Stories about agriculture, specifically, can reflect shifting environmental concerns, philosophies of land stewardship, and perceptions of history. But in telling stories of the country’s agricultural past, we must contend with issues of slavery, land loss, and the immigrant experience. What do we prioritize in our storytelling? What do we gloss over? In this section, the featured programs examine how storytelling on the farm reflects certain mindsets about the past.

“Folklife is community life and values, artfully expressed in myriad forms and interactions,” writes folklorist Mary Hufford. “Universal, diverse, and enduring, it enriches the nation and makes us a commonwealth of cultures.”²⁰ In the United States, agricultural folklife is often expressed vividly through festival: state and county fairs, food-themed cooking events, seasonal harvest shows. The programs in this section come from a variety of regions across the country, but many of them highlight the financial stakes of these events, demonstrating not only their cultural significance but also their ties to tourism and local economies.

Many folklife and festival events are geared towards the younger generation, sharing knowledge through engaging cultural experiences. The Youth section of this exhibit explores both programming for and about youth involvement in agriculture. Organizations such as 4-H clubs and Future Farmers of America (FFA) articulate their vested interest in providing for farming futures, but the realities of farm work aren’t always centered in broader conversations about youth education and development. What does opportunity mean for those families working on farms? What resources are available, and what activities are prioritized?

Story

Featured Item

One of the hosts of “The Long Shadow of the Plantation” (2019) radio broadcast speaks with farmer Shirley Sherrod about how the history of slavery continues to impact contemporary agricultural realities. BackStory, "The Long Shadow of the Plantation: How a Weighted Past Creates a Complicated Present" (September 20, 2019) (item below).

Assignment Iowa Classics, episode 301, “Living History Farms” (Iowa Public Television, Johnston, IA, July 7, 1977).

This television episode illustrates how a Place can be constructed to express a particular vision of the past. While visiting the 500-acre farm museum in Clive, Iowa, attendees can witness multiple periods of agricultural history through a pioneer subsistence farm and a 1900s horse farm on the same property. Workers use old-fashioned equipment, machinery, and Methods to work the Land and provide for themselves. Those involved in the project say they’re telling the authentic story of Iowa’s past, but scholars would argue that it is an interpretation of the past, centering an agrarian lifestyle with a strictly gendered division of labor. In Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage, folklorist Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett discusses how such “heritage productions,” in asserting an all-encompassing vision of the past, can potentially “subsume prior and subsequent historical sites” and obscure the variety of historical experiences.²¹

Farm Day (Maryland Public Television, Owings Mills, February 3, 1986).

While the content of this particular episode tackles issues relating to Policy and Industry, Farm Day as a television series provides us with an example of twentieth-century broadcasting that was dedicated exclusively to sharing farm stories and news. Journalism scholars have noted the decline of agricultural reporting towards the end of the century, primarily in print media outlets.²² But Farm Day shows what agricultural coverage often looked like during the heat of the 1980s farm crisis. This series was transmitted nationally through a network of public broadcasting stations—as illustrated in the special shout-out to WOSU viewers in Columbus, Ohio, at the close of this program—and was partially funded by the Farm Credit System, “the nation’s borrower-owned banks and associations that provide credit and related services to American agriculture.”

Hit the Dirt, “Native Seed Search” (WERU Community Radio, East Orland, ME, date unknown).

Stories can be shared throughout a variety of mediums—even botanical, as exemplified in this short radio coverage of the Native Seed Search, a nonprofit seed conservation organization in Tucson, Arizona. Groups like Native Seed Search typically collect, preserve, and distribute at-risk seeds during times of Crisis through the publication of a catalog, but this group has an additional mission. “While the group is a seed conservation organization,” says the radio host, “they realize that in order for crops to be preserved, the cultural context in which they have been maintained has to be preserved as well.” Along with their conservation mission, Native Seed Search also offers their resources to Native American groups who wish to cultivate their own traditional crops. In this way, seeds can serve as a connection point as stories and knowledge from the past are shared in the present.

“The Long Shadow of the Plantation: How a Weighted Past Creates a Complicated Present” (BackStory, September 20, 2019).

This radio broadcast from 2019 brings together three historians and their special guests to host a discussion about the legacies and impact of Land that is intimately connected to slavery: plantations. The first segment tells the story of Shirley Sherrod of New Communities in Albany, Georgia: the struggle to acquire farmland, the discrimination lawsuit against the USDA, reclaiming an old plantation space, and reckoning with past historical violence and trauma through agricultural Work and Stewardship. The second part critically evaluates how modern plantation museums historicize and tell stories of the past: what is centered, what is minimized, and the stakes of historical representation. There are over 300 plantation museums in the US, and this broadcast makes compelling points about how issues of history, heritage, and Placemaking are also issues of social justice.

Folklife

A sorority sells peaches at the 1996 Ruston Peach Festival in Taste of Louisiana with Chef John Folse (item below).

Grass Roots Journal, episode 406, “Onion Festival” (Northwest Public Television, Pullman, WA, 1983).

The segment from this television magazine covering the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival in Washington State demonstrates how festivals and events relating to agriculture can take on special meaning within tourism economies and Placemaking practices. “We’re trying to attract people to come in to Walla Walla,” says commission president Wes Colley. “To think of us as the Sweet Onion City, and quit thinking of us as the place where the state prison’s at, which we think’s a negative. And so we think it has a lot of public relations for the town.” The cultural and economic value of the sweet onion is shown here as festival attendees gather to cook, judge, and eat the dishes: salads, onion rings, even onion pie.

North Carolina Now (UNC-TV, Research Triangle Park, NC, October 16, 1995).

This live news coverage of the 128th North Carolina State Fair in 1995 explores what goes into this festival: the planning, setup, and events of the day—like pig races and other Youth activities. But the special segments in this program highlight the significant changes in agricultural Industry and Practice that were happening at the time. “For centuries, farming has been the lifeblood of our state, and the family farm was at the heart and the soul of North Carolina,” says newscaster Marita Matray. “But even as the state fair honors the family farmer, there are fewer and fewer family farms left.” The interviews with farmers featured in this coverage concern issues of Stewardship, Harvest, and Crisis even as they share their Stories of small-farm living.

Taste of Louisiana with Chef John Folse & Company: Fairs & Festivals of Louisiana, “Peach Festival” (Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge, March 9, 1996).

John Folse’s series on the foodways and festivals of Louisiana revisits a number of local products that are important to the state, both economically and socially. In his coverage of the Peach Festival in Ruston, Louisiana, Folse goes into detail about how the peaches are cultivated, Harvested, processed, and cooked for competitions, emphasizing the intimate connections between cooking, culture, and agricultural work. The majority of the program features cooking demonstrations by Folse, who utilizes the special product of the day, but the opening stories of fairs and food illustrate the cultural context of the produce.

Minding Your Business, episode 391, “Whole Enchilada Festival” (KRWG, Las Cruces, New Mexico, October 3, 2008).

This series examines the economic and natural Resources of southwest New Mexico. The festival began as Vaquero Days, run by the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, but it evolved to “The Whole Enchilada” festival in 1980 after the event showcased the Guinness World Record-holding enchilada that was made with produce that was locally significant. “I think it’s a very prided culture,” says Fiesta Board Vice-President Gary Perez, “showing the traditions, the flavor of the food in the southwest, and certainly celebrating one of our biggest cash crops in the state: the green chile. And of course, we all know that we have the best of it down here in the state.”

Youth

The young host of Gumbo Island visits a livestock show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Dr. Dad’s PH3, “Soil and Agriculture” (Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge, 1995).

This broadcast from Louisiana Public Broadcasting was a part of Dr. Dad’s PH3: an educational series that introduced young audiences to scientific and historical concepts. This episode tackles Soil composition through hands-on activities, demonstrations, and trips to important Places relating to farming. Here, Dr. Dad visits both a small-scale herb farmer as well as the McIlhenny Company’s commercial farm, showcasing very different agricultural Practices with different conservation philosophies.

“Wisconsin Farm Kids” (PBS Wisconsin, WHA-TV, Madison, 1999).

“This is the 90s,” says Wisconsin teen Haley in this 1999 special program on youth and agriculture. “And we’re not hicks and, like, old-time farmers. We’re very modern—we have all kinds of equipment, tractors.” The teens interviewed in this program address conceptions and misconceptions they’ve encountered while working on their family farms, while the agricultural reporter asks questions about day-to-day life and chores, special Folklife events, farm prices and loans, urban development, and the futures they imagine in agriculture, both personally and for their state. As the teens discuss changing attitudes about farming, they share stories of early mornings, missing school events, visits to loan offices, and travel to Rhetorically signal that they are hard-working, economically savvy, mobile, and conscientious.

Gumbo Island, “Farm Families” (Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge, 1997).

This educational television series explores the cultures and histories of Louisiana, geared towards children from kindergarten through fourth grade. In this episode, the young host visits the Louisiana State University youth livestock show in Baton Rouge and speaks with 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) members about their work, competitions, and growing up on farms. Jeremy Martin, one of the teens followed in the program, participates in a sheep-showing competition in hopes of winning a satin ribbon or plated belt buckle.

Louisiana: The State We're In, episode 431 (Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge, August 15, 1980).

The first segment of this television news program considers the migrant education program in Evangeline Parish in Louisiana, which was designed to serve the children of farm workers in the state whose lives are often on the Move according to the seasonal work available at the time. Around 9,000 children participated in the federally funded programs across the state while their parents worked in the fields and on crawfish farms in the area. The news coverage demonstrates the need for programs and funding to support those most vulnerable who may be constrained by systems of scarcity, need, and subjugation.