Beyond “Inherit It or Marry It”: Exploring How Women Engaged in Sustainable Agriculture Access Farmland

Аннотация

Despite an overall decrease in new farm operations, the number of women farm operators grew 30 percent between 2002 and 2007,with 300 percent growth since 1978. This research suggests, however, that opportunities for women have unfolded unevenly. We argue that women’s opportunities to farm are affected by their social location and life course,suggesting that as their lives unfold across specific cultural and economic moments, different cohorts of women experience divergent opportunities to farm. Using in-depth interviews with women engaged in sustainable farming in the Inland Northwest, this article examines how women access farmland. Our findings suggest three methods for access: (1) access through the traditional means of marrying a male farmer and then carving out space for one’s self as a farmer; (2) access later in life after a lifealtering event like divorce and using personal financial means, such as retirement income or selling appreciated property; (3) access at a young age through the pooling of marital resources with a husband who works off the farm. Our research suggests that women’s land access should not be presumed a progressive narrative and suggests the need for a more complex understanding of the challenges that women in agriculture face today despite their increased presence in farming