Heidi,
You are absolutely correct! I was being a bit provincial as we do not have
ranchers or ranches in the humid east. I would say the same for the word "rancher"
as I said for the word "farmer" in comparison to cattle producer or grower -- In my
previous post, just substitute ranch for farm as the land and resources under their
care.
Ray
Heidi Carter wrote:
> Hi Ray,
>
> For my two cents, people I have worked with would be offended by the term
> farmer. They are ranchers and have no interest in farming and are proud of
> their operation. Also, when writing reports, it gets a bit tiresome to
> write and read farmers-ranchers over and over. Depends on the objectives as
> always. Heidi
>
> At 12:07 PM 4/6/98 -0500, you wrote:
> >Dear Sanetters,
> >
> >Ironic.....I have been waging an effort to RESTORE the use of the term farmer
> >in reference to people who manage an agroecosystem called a farm. I also
> >prefer the word "farm" as indicating a complex agroecosystem on a peice of
> >land, rather than an "operation", indicating a single type of out-door (or
> >indoor) industrial activity. In my experience, the words "grower" and
> >"producer" are increasingly being used in place of farmer, particularly by
> >agri-industry and ag extension personnel. These terms imply a single purpose
> >(growing , producing) and are used in an industrial/corporate world-view as
> >pretty much equal to other cogs in the ag/food system machine (e.g. "dealers",
> >"manufacturers", "marketers", "consultants", etc.).
> > To me the word farmer, regardless of the etymological origins (which can
> >be pretty irrelevant even if interesting, say for example the word salary
> >coming form "salt"), today implies a person engaged in making a living by the
> >holistic stewardship and management of a piece of land. A farmer is a unique
> >combination of ecologist, herdsman (herds person?), crop manager, mechanic,
> >inventor, financial manager, breeder, etc., etc. One of the big problems that
> >the former Soviet countries now face in developing their agriculture is that
> >they have very few "farmers", but plenty of tractor drivers, mechanics,
> >agronomists, fertilizer technicians, animal health specialists, etc. In the
> >cultural tradition of the United States, at least, the term farmer conjures up
> >images of "the family farm", rural community values, jack-of-all trades, and
> >Jeffersonian yeoman farmers. I very much encourage (but certainly would not
> >want to regulate) the use of the term "farmer", rather than "producer" or
> >"grower" (unless, of course, we are referring to people who are merely
> >undiversified producers or growers in, say, a vertically integrated industrial
> >ag scheme).
> >
> >Ray Weil
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Robert Moore, Jr wrote:
> >
> >> Akivia,
> >>
> >> Thanks for wanting to add energy to people who desire to be stewards
> >> towards the land by attempting to change perception.
> >>
> >> I however, am not ashamed to call myself a farmer, nor refer to others as
> >> farmers. Nor do I see any reason to stretch the post-modern deconstruction
> >> of language to a word that, as all words do, inadequately describes the
> >> human experience.
> >> It is rather an awkward state of the modern political
> >> climate that seeks to regulate the ways in which people refer to each
> >> other through regulating their language. I know a great many people who
> >> make money and are considered some
> >> longtime stewards of the land. Why not spend time embracing the existing
> >> word in the context you feel comfortable with?
> >>
> >> Rooted,
> >> Bob Moore
> >>
> >> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
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> >> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> >
> >
> >Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="vcard.vcf"
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>
> *****************************************************************************
> Heidi Carter E-Mail: csas007@unlvm.unl.edu
> Education Coordinator Phone: 402-472-0917
> Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems
> University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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