Words of Others

from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Editors' note:
This paragraph sums up Kingsolverís visit to a dairy farm run by an Amish couple.

Farmers like Elsie and David are a link between the past and future. They've declined to participate in the modern centruy's paradigm of agriculture - and of family life, for that matter, as they place high value on non-material things like intergenerational family bonds, natural aesthetics, and the pleasures of shared work. By restraining their consumption and retaining skills from earlier generations of farmers, they are succeeding. When the present paradigm of extractive farming has run its course, I don't foresee crowds of people signing up for the plain wardrobe. But I do foresee them needing guidance on sustainable agriculture.

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Design by Kenny King.