Unconventional Farming

I just returned from a trip to dairy country in western New York. I was astounded at the vast fields and immense barns and machinery on some farms, yet I saw very few farmers. I did see countless abandoned farmhouses and crumbling barns.

People there shared stories of a time, not 30 years ago, when hundreds of families lived steady lives off the land until they were told to "get big or get out". It's not a new story. What is new is America's food revolution - an increasing demand for pure, healthy foods produced on a human scale.

Behind that demand are farmers and ranchers like Virgil Trujillo, who tends cattle by tending the land, Harry Lewis, who resisted pressure to expand his small dairy herd, and the Podoll family, whose neighbors scorn them for growing organic wheat.

These farmers are profiled in Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness, by journalist and photographer Lisa Hamilton. She joined us from San Francisco to share some stories of the people behind a food system dominated by machinery for an installment of our Next Green Thing series.

Watch a slideshow of Lisa's experiences at American farms

Read a review of Deeply Rooted at Chasing Ray

(Photo courtesy of Lisa Hamilton)