Third great separation

• industrial agricultural revolution

  • Farming was a community affair, by necessity.
  • Nearly everyone in the United States lived on a farm, had lived on a farm, or knew someone who lived on a farm.
  • There was still a sense of connectedness to the land, the earth, through food and farming.
  • But ​“times changed” in rural America.

  • The industrialization of agriculture removed the necessity for community-based farming.

  • Farmers eventually lost their sense of connectedness to

    • their land,
    • to each other and
    • to their communities.
  • Consumers no longer know
    • who produces their food,
    • where it was produced, or
    • how it was produced.
  • What happens to food between the earth and the eater has become largely a mystery.
  • Food for family gatherings and religious holidays are of economic importance to the food industry,
    • but have little social or spiritual significance beyond following cultural traditions.
  • The dependence of humanity on the Earth for food is no less than during the early times of hunting and gathering,
    • but the sense of connectedness between the eater and the Earth has been lost.

quote

• Farming was a community affair, by necessity
• What happens to food between the earth and the eater has become largely a mystery.