Are you the Farmer?
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Masters Dissertation Research on new and beginning women farmers - a comparison of women farmers in California and Shiga Prefecture in Japan
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Are you the Farmer?
- 1. Are you the Farmer? The Repeasantization and Gender Struggles of New and Beginning Women Farmers in California, USA and Shiga Prefecture, Japan Chika Kondo Philosophy of Agricultural Science Division of Natural Resource Economics Graduate School of Agriculture. Kyoto University 1
- 2. 70% of farming worldwide is conducted by women, but they are often seen as accessory or helpers to their husbands, fathers (FAO 2011). United States and Japan: gender inequality is addressed through national women farmer programs where the issues are ‘trivialized and reduced to supporting the individual woman’ (Bock 2015) • California: 36% of new and beginning farmer principal operators are female (USDA 2017) • Shiga: 12.8% of new and beginning farmer (independent/self-employed) are female (2017 Shiga Prefecture Office of Agricultural Management) Gender Ratio of Farm Operator Male Female 2018 WEF Gender Inequality Ranking United States (2012) 86.3% 13.7% 51st Japan (2015) 93.3% 6.7% 110th Iceland (2010) 84.6% 15.4% 1st Norway (2010) 85.9% 14.1% 2nd Sweden (2010) 93.9% 6.1% 3rd 2 Source: USDA 2012, MAFF
- 3. ns of Farming (adapted from van der Source: van der Ploeg 2018 Key Differences between Agricultural Entrepreneurs and New Peasants Key areas Agricultural Entrepreneurs New peasants Land Ample use of chemical fertilizers Putting soil biology center stage; mixed farms; multifunctionalit y Investments Mechanical technologies that replace labor Skill-oriented technologies Credit Credit central in farm development Own savings, labor investments, cooperation, pluri-activity Decision making Economic rationality, farm accountancy Labor income, solidarity, reciprocity Relations with the community Individualism, isolated Community orientation combined with autonomy and 3 Modes of Farming 3 (Source: van der Ploeg
- 4. repeasantization (noun) “a modern expression of the fight for autonomy and survival in a context of deprivation and dependency” -Jan Douwe van der Ploeg 4
- 5. What is the peasant condition? Source: van der Ploeg’s schematic of the peasant condition (source: van der Ploeg 2008, p.25) 5
- 6. Gender Struggle: • New and beginning women farmers struggle being a minority in a male dominated field. • How are new and beginning women farmers impacted by repeasantization? repeasantization? • What impact does identity and power have? 6
- 7. 2 Case Studies: California and Shiga Prefecture SHIGA (6) Sacramento Davis Los Angeles Fresno CALIFORNIA (16) See page 5-8 of ( ) # of interviews 7
- 8. California Example: Farmer L 6 years in operation, leases 0.8 ha in Davis, CA Struggle for Autonomy: -desire to find ways to farm that felt more in line with her values rather than hustling to find more economic markets. -unique collaborations with people who share similar values and goals Self Controlled Resource Base: -Restaurant partnership ($40,000 salary paid for by the restaurant group in SF) -Seed producer for seed company conducting field trials. Co- production: “When I talked to Korean farmers- you should be able to feed yourself with only a sickle and a hoe… I do need to know how to feed myself and others. Nothing that enters the farm you know is mined or extracted compared to other industrial processes or by-products” Cooperation: -member of Asian American Farmer Alliance -collective of seed care takers, connecting culturally relevant seeds to people, preserving food traditions -hosting educational events on farm for young Korean Americans. Gender Struggle: “Everyone just thought we were day laborers- people would just pull over and say, “Hey I got this couch to move” I think gender intersects 8
- 9. Shiga Example: Farmer R 4 years in operation, leases 0.7 ha in Katata, Shiga Struggle for Autonomy: ‘You pay a price at a restaurant that reflects the person’s labor, why not for fresh vegetables?’ -wants to challenge consumer’s perception of all produce should be cheap. Self Controlled Resource Base: Direct Sales Markets Weekly bento-lunch pop-up Weekly vegetable farm stand Co-production: -grows close to 100 varieties with a mentor farmer who teaches her to grow sustainably similar to methods in the long past. -will use pesticides when absolutely necessary Cooperation: -participant of Shiga Prefectural women farmer business training programs -board member of Shiga 100 Project Gender Struggle: -farms with an older gentleman and therefore thinks she does not receive any negative treatment. -failed to qualify for beginning farmer subsidy because of no 9
- 10. Self Controlled Resource Base Shiga Prefecture • Weekend restaurant on the farm. • Specialty gifts • Specialty sauces • Miso workshops • Direct Sales Markets • Online sales • Bento Lunch Pop-up • Farm to Table Classes • Furusato Nozei California • Specialty CSA (herbal medicine, salad, fruits) • Ugly fruit/produce • Direct Restaurant Partnership • U-pick • Waste management: compost farms • Farmers’ Markets • Education/workshops • Worker owned cooperatives • Heirloom seed production 10
- 11. Gender Findings Shiga Prefecture • Concerns for farmers who farm alone or are single. • “Many of the old men, you know they make comments that border on sexual harassment and often say I need to go become someone’s wife instead of farming.” – Farmer T Vs • Major praise for farming with a husband • “I only receive praise from others for farming with my husband. Most farmers in the area have difficulty even finding a wife, let alone a wife who also wants to farm. I’m treated almost like a princess around here” -Farmer U California • Farmer’s girlfriend, Farmer’s Daughter • Perceived as sexual objects • Intersection with Race: • Day-laborer, farmworker that didn’t speak English • Intersections with Sexual Orientation: • Homophobia • “After the Orlando shooting (summer 2017), I wrote in our newsletter how that affected me as a queer person and that was the month the greatest number of people unsubscribed after. And I’m 100% sure you know- people unsubscribe from newsletters all of the time- but there’s no reason to explain that 11
- 12. Land Access: Shiga Prefecture • Rate of available farm land continues to increase but trust and social capital impact a woman farmer’s ability to obtain a lease. • Farmer T grows rice and any land that becomes available will be prioritized to the veteran farmers who have the resources to expand production. When land is available, it is often poor quality. For Farmer T, she fears losing trust among other farmers in her hamlet if she decides to expand and California • Land costs continue to rise making it difficult to profit from agricultural production • Women farmers have to fight stereotypes that land owners hold: “He told me- just so you know, farming vegetables is hard. It’s challenging and it takes a lot of work- that was super insulting and seemed to imply that I hadn’t thought it through. I doubt he would have said that to a 28-year-old man who wanted to start a farm. He was just skeptical that I wasn’t going to follow through or that I would work for the first couple of months and not keep at it once I realized how hard it was” –Farmer F 12
- 13. Collective Power ”Agriculture is an industry where you want to quit often. But if you have a network of friends, it is easier to find the courage to keep going. I want this group to serve as a gateway for other women who want to become farmers.” -Farmer Q 1.) share and market their agricultural products and ways of farming 2.) build managerial and technical skillset of women farmers 3.) collaborate and increase avenues for distribution 4.) connect with consumers, private sector and 13
- 14. CALIFORNIA FARMER EQUITY ACT 2017 14
- 15. 15
- 16. Conclusion: Identity and Power: • New and beginning women farmers are not a monolithic category (different identities and lifestyles) • Unspoken pressure to not fail; • Ability to recognize and defend one’s own worth and value affects representation • Building collective power through organizations, cooperatives, mutual support, and collaboration Repeasantization: • Land-access is still the biggest issue for those who want to expand their farming business • Strong values for autonomy, increasing social status of small scale farmers, and emphasize on knowing where our food comes from. 16
Editor's Notes
- My presentation is on new and beginning women farmer operators with two case studies- Japan and California. The purpose of this research is to look closely into their operations, sustainability, and identity of new and beginning women farmer-operated farms in California, USA and Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
- According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture in California, 27% of current principal operators are beginning farmers—farmers with 10 years or less experience managing their current operation (USDA 2017). Of which, 36% of principal producers identify as female (USDA 2017). This is over twice the percentage of overall women producers within the state of California where only 17% of all producers are women. In comparison to the rest of the United States, new and beginning farmers in California make up 29% of principal operators (USDA 2017). Issues related to gender inequality are often addressed through national women farmer programs where the issues women farmers face are “trivialized and reduced to supporting the individual women” (Bock, 2015). No structural changes are made to address the hidden barriers women farmers face when starting, maintaining, and expanding their farming businesses. For instance, in order to encourage more women to choose agriculture as a career path, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) collaborated with various corporations to launch a Farmer Girls Project in 2013 by hosting farmer trainings and selling feminine farm apparel and equipment, including pink “colorful” farm trucks. The purpose of this research is to elucidate on the sustainability and operations of new entry and beginning women farmer owned farms in California, USA and Shiga prefecture, Japan.
- Capitalist Farming- large scale corporate farming- profit maximization is the highest priority. Depends on piece-rate/hourly labor., driver of most of today’s global agro-export model and current industrialized food system. Peasant mode of farming is distinctly different. In the global north, for countries like Japan and the US, the sense of resistance to the modern industrial food system- drives new and beginning farmers to choose a path of repeasantization. This peasant mode of production- focuses on building autonomy and reducing dependencies. Entrepreneurial- somewhere in between, emerged post WWII as a symbol of modernization against ”backward” peasant farming. Specialized products relying on financial and industrial capital. Rather than working with nature or using just one own’s labor, they frequently turn to outside resources such as GMO seeds, chemical fertilizer, contractors, and consultants.
- Repeasantization: understood as both agency and autonomy The context of deprivation and dependency refers to the industrialized food system where food is not exactly produced or processed, but rather it is engineered. The industrialized system deprives us of being able to know where exactly our food comes from and makes both producers and eaters dependent on the distortions created by the current global agro-food system. selling and purchasing food at such cheap rates that do not allow farmers to live viable livelihoods.
- As mentioned earlier: the hostile environment refers to the distortions created by the current global agro-food system. A peasant farm’s most fundamental characteristic is its aptitude to directly control its resource base- this allows for the capacity to be autonomy. Connecting production to local culture and people enables peasant agriculture to obtain more independence and control over both the quality of the good produced and the labor provided to produce them. Co-production refers to the interaction between humans and nature, cooperative relations allow peasants to distance themselves from only seeking profitability or depending on just the market exchange. This links back to the struggle for autonomy because it aligns farming “with the interests and prospects of the producers” SELF CURATED MARKETS. Co-production: interaction between man and living nature that is constantly improving (ie soil conditions, regenerative agriculture, etc.) Cooperation: creating need for cooperation beyond the individual level
- The repeasantization framework fails to take into consideration the active role of identity and its impact on power in opposing aspects of the industrialized food system.. A focus on gender can provide greater understanding of the experience of new and beginning women farmers and the struggles they must overcome to maintain or expand their small-scale farming operations. The repeasantization framework fails to fully capture the extent in which women farmers must overcome negative stereotypes and obstacles related to their gender to become fully recognized as the farmer.
- I conducted 22 in-depth semi-structured interviews to farmers who publicly identified themselves as both women and farm operator. I explore the ways in which re-peasantization- how they are shifting the way agriculture is organized in terms of sustainability and value-seeking strategies.
- -spent a year interviewing 100 farmers for a radio show and realized that none of the farmers’ intentions and thoughts are communicated when a consumer buys their produce.
- Value Seeking Strategies Self-controlled resource base: labor process of actively making things, resources, relations and symbols (ie. pluriactivity, multifunctionality)
- All held different careers before coming to farming.
- State legislation passed in 2017 to provide more technical assistance, and removing barriers for access to public funds to assist and support minority farmers. This was a collaborative effort for which some of the women farmers I interviewed were a part of and organized lobbying. Advocacy work is important in order to build representation and establish legitimacy. Access to public funds is just one way to do so.
- SOCIAL MEDIA is a free medium. Direct relationships with consumers. (japan more online sales vs California- bigger farmers markets. Farming is their platform to communicate and share their knowledge and appreciation and love for quality food and a kind of life that appreciates sustainable agriculture. There is an unremitting need for representation that accurately reflects the experiences of the current farming population because the current stereotypes of new and beginning women farmers can threaten the future of farming by discouraging new individuals from entering the field with a perceived hostility to an already marginalized group
- \CONCLUSION: California: A state with one of the largest populations of new and beginning farmers- women farmer operators are vocalizing their identities as a women farmer and pushing towards more inclusivity both on a identity paradigm and sustainable agriculture- to deepen our thinking around health, seeds, environment, and eating habits. Japan: Moving towards an acceptance for diversified farming systems both on the growing practice level but also on the social level: (farming in Japan doesn’t have to be confined to just traditional family farming or traditional gender roles within a given household) not all the women farmers are so concerned about upholding an image of feminine farming as seen throughout much of the recruitment material around NJP.