Deeply Rooted Evaluation

Cristina Cahill

Prof. Melissa Santos

Eng 102-016

27 November 2017

Deeply Rooted Evaluation

Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness by Lisa M. Hamilton is an amazing book that everyone could benefit from reading. In this book, Hamilton describes the lives and struggles of the people that own small farms. For the most part Hamilton allows the words of the farmers and ranchers she spent time with to convey the purpose of this book. The farmers are very passionate and knowledgeable about what they do, even though it can be difficult. One of the farmers Hamilton talks with, Harry, has an organic dairy farm and he lets the cows on his farm live their lives the way nature intended. At one point while Harry is explaining why they keep calves with their mothers, he says, “calves’ suckling helps their mothers ward of mastitis, an inflammation of the udder” (Sulphur Springs, Texas). This alone helps to prove the point that there is a benefit to keeping farms small, because on a small farm you are able to do what is healthy for the animals.

Through the lives of these farmers we are able to see the difficulties that small farmers face due to the industrialization of farms in America. Hamilton explains the reasoning for why it is difficult to be a small farmer today in America by saying, “this is compounded by the fact that as the food system has moved toward more processing and greater centralization, farmers and ranchers have received an ever-smaller fraction of the ever-smaller retail price for their product” (Abiquiu, New Mexico). Even though it is becoming increasingly difficult to be a small farmer due to the small profit these farmers stick to their morals and continue to do what they do. A review of the book on Kirkus Reviews makes the comment that, “They eschew the bigger-is-better philosophy of capitalization for reasons of ethics and practicality: They refuse to burden the land with petrochemicals not only because it is inimical to biorhythms and sustainability, but because it is financially ruinous” (Kirkus Reviews). Hamilton does an amazing job at highlighting the things that these farmers go through, and all he hard work they do in order to keep things on their farms ethical and organic. I would recommend this book to anyone because I think it is important for people to know who their food comes from and the process that occurred before the food ended up in their hands. This book teaches people to have an appreciation for local farms.

Work Cited

Hamilton, Lisa M. Deeply rooted: Unconventional farmers in the age of agribusiness. Counterpoint, 2010.

“Kirkus Review.” Kirkus Reviews, 20 May 2010, www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lisa-m-hamilton/deeply-rooted/.