Media Constructions

Of Sustainability:

Food, Water & Agriculture

PowerPoint Presentation: Lesson 7

Farming, Community, and Sustainability

Media Documents:

Messages about farming in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA)

The Yearbook of Agriculture covers and Agriculture Fact Book, 1943 - 2002

L7, DOC 1

What are the messages about farming?

L7, DOC 2

What are the messages about farming?

L7, DOC 3

What are the messages about farming?

L7, DOC 4

What are the messages about farming?

L7, DOC 5

What are the messages about farming?

L7, DOC 6

What are the messages about farming?

L7, DOC 7

What are the messages about farming?

What are the patterns of messages about farming in the USDA publications?

Media Documents:

Messages about farming in

Popular culture images, 1941-2011

L7, DOC 8

Corn School is a mural in the Lagrange, Indiana Post Office. The local Corn School Festival resulted from teaching about the corn growing process in school.

What are the messages about farming?

Corn School1941 mural by Jessie Hull Mayer

L7, DOC 9

Country Gentleman was a popular agricultural magazine published between 1831 and 1955.

What are the messages about farming?

“Wheat Harvest,” July 1943 Country Gentleman

cover by Robert Riggs

L7, DOC 10Large Farm Set, 1950s Toy farm by Auburn Rubber Company

What are the messages about farming?

L7, DOC 11

This poster asks consumers to stop buying lettuce and grapes in support of the United Farm Workers Union, whose symbol appears in the arc at the top right.

What are the messages about farming?

1970s poster, by Chicago Women’s Graphics Collective

L7, DOC 12

Farm Aid began during the midst of the farm crisis in 1985 as a benefit concert to help raise money for family farmers. This CD includes performances from Live Aid concerts between 1986-1999.

What are the messages about farming?

Farm Aid: Family Farmers Keep America

Growing!, Vol. One Live, 2000 album cover

L7, DOC 13

The thumbnail for this YouTube clip reads: “In this episode of Dialogue for Donors, PhilanthroMedia travels to Philadelphia, PA, where The Food Trust makes great strides to combat urban food deserts by sponsoring local farmers markets.”

What are the messages

about farming?

Farmers Markets: Growing Communities, 2008 video clip by PhilanthroMedia

L7, DOC 14

“This website is a collection of stories about our work at City Farmer here in Vancouver, Canada, and about urban farmers from around the world.”

“2011 Trends: Growing Media Group sees Urban Farming and Edible Ornamentals as hot, ”City Farmer News Web Page

What are the patterns of messages about farming in these popular culture images?

“The Farmer is the Man”Pete Seeger, 1956

 

L7 SONG 1

When the farmer comes to townWith his wagon broken down,The farmer is the man that feeds them all.If you'll only look and see,I think you will agree,That the farmer is the man that feeds them all.

The farmer is the manThe farmer is the manLives on credit till the fall,Then they take him by the hand,And they lead him from the land,And the middleman's the one that gets it all.

When the lawyer hangs aroundand the butcher cuts a pound,The farmer is the man that feeds them all.And the preacher and the cookThey go strolling by the brook,But the farmer is the man that feeds them all.

The farmer is the man The farmer is the manLives on credit till the fall.With the interest rate so highIt's a wonder he don't die;For the mortgage man is the one that gets it all.

When the banker says he's broke,And the merchant's up in smoke,They forget it’s the farmer feeds them all.It would put them to the testIf the farmer took a rest.Then they’d know it’s the farmer feeds them all.The farmer is the man The farmer is the manLives on credit till the fall,And his pants are wearing thin,His condition it’s a sin;He's forgot that he's the man that feeds them all.

“Annie’s Lover”Taj Mahal, 1969

 

L7 SONG 2

Annie's lover was a big ol' man he was a farming man Never spent much time worried ‘bout the people In the big big city Cause all he did know aboutwas the cows and the chickens And the pigs and the horsesand the sheeps and the goats And the ducks they fly Sat on the hill side playing his guitar Watching the whole thing come down in harmony 

Well, Annie's lover was a big ol' man he was an African man He walked around and looked and sawand saw everything That his eyes could see

Cause all he did know ‘bout was the cows and the chickens And the pigs and the horses and the sheeps and the goats And the trees and the waters and the fields and the mountains And the blue sky and the big clouds And the ducks they fly

He sat on the hill side playing his guitar Watching the whole thing come down in harmony

“Pastures of Plenty”Odetta, 1972

 

L7 SONG 3

California, Arizona, I‘ve worked all your cropsThen northward up to Oregon to gather your hopsI dug beets from your ground, I cut grapes from your vineTo set on your table that light sparkling wine

Green pastures of plenty from dry desert groundFrom the Grand Coulee Dam where waters run downEvery state of this Union us migrants have beenWe come with the dust and we’re gone with the wind

It's always we rambled, that river and IAll along your green valleys, I work till I dieTravel this road until death sets me freeCause pastures of plenty must always be free

“Daddy Won't Sell the Farm”Montgomery Gentry, 2008

 

L7 SONG 4

He worked and slaved in '68, he bought these fields and trees.He raised his corn and a big red barnand a healthy family.He learned to love the woodlands,he can't stand to do them harm. There's concrete all around him, but Daddy won't sell the farm.

You can't roll a rock, up a hill that steep.You can't pull roots when they run that deep.He's gonna live and die, in the eye of an urban storm.Daddy won't sell the farm.

One day he's gonna leave it all to me and I'll start my own branch of the family tree. They'll get the message written on the roof of the barn,Daddy won't sell the farm.

Reference List

L 7, DOC 1-6 USDA National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). Yearbook of Agriculture (1938-1992). Retrieved from: http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/

L 7, DOC 7 USDA National Agriculture Library. (n.d.) Agricultural Fact Book, 2001-2002. Retrieved from: www.usda.gov/factbook/2002factbook.pdf

L7, DOC 8Mayer, J. H. (1941). Corn School [Post Office Mural, Lagrange, IN]. Retrieved from: http://www.wpamurals.com/lagrange.jpg

L7, DOC 9Riggs, R. (1943, July). Farm Work is War Work. Country Gentleman. Retrieved from: http://gono.com/adart/countrygentleman/countrygentleman-1945-4.jpg

L7, DOC 10[Large Farm Set]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.timewarptoys.com/auburnfarm1.jpg

L7, DOC 11Chicago Women's Graphics Collective. (Circa1978). Boycott Lettuce & Grapes. [Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.]. Retrieve from: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/chavez/aa_chavez_huelga_2_e.html

L7, DOC 12[Various Artists]. (2000, Sept 12). Farm aid: Keep america growing volume 1. Retrieved from: http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Aid-Keep-America-Growing/dp/B00004X0F1

L7, DOC 13PhilanthroMedia2 (Poster). (2008, June 24). Farmers markets: Growing communities. Retrieve from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wkJHyC9eo8&p=FF92A9D0176AA904

L7, DOC 14Levenston, M. (Poster). (n.d.) Growing Media Group 2011 Garden Trends [In McCoy, S. (2010). Growing Media Group.] Retrieved from: http://www.cityfarmer.info/2010/11/02/2011-trends-growing-media-group-see-urban-farming-and-edible-ornamentals-as-hot/

L7, Song 1The Farmer is the Man [Recorded by P. Seeger]. (1956). On American Industrial Ballads.

L7, Song 2Annie's Lover [Recorded by T. Mahal]. (1969). On Giant Step [CD].

L7, Song 3Pastures of Plenty [Recorded by Odetta]. (1972). On The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie [CD].

L7, Song 4Daddy Won't Sell the Farm [Recorded by M. Gentry]. (2008). On Tattoos and Scars [CD].