Aug.-Sept. 1982 RAIN Page 15 ecological degradation due to erosion and petro-chemicals, the mismanagement of water, the loss of land to urban sprawl, and the negative impact on human health overshadow the present “success" of our food system and bring into sharp question its future capabilties. The Cornucopia Project is providing the vital services of public education and communication networking for people who want to reverse these destructive trends and guide the focxl system towards sustainability, equity, and abundance. Empty Breadbasket? presents the information and the framework to begin such a change. It offers a common language and an inspiring vision for consumers, farmers, food business people and legislators. An 11 page summary report of Empty Breadbasket? and a slide show are now available, along with a dozen other reasonably priced papers and a free Cornucopia Project newsletter. Write to the Project for details. — Eileen Trudeau. The Path Not Taken by the Center for Rural Affairs, 1982,60pp., $5.00 from; Center for Rural Affairs P.O.Box 405 Walthill, NE 68067 Over the past ten years a range of critics from pubUc interest advocates to distinguished scientists of the National Academy of Sciences have raised objections to the US agricultural research system. Some dte shortcomings in agricultural research quality as well as in its fulfillment of the basic research mission — to improve agricultural production. Others note instead the failure of the research establishmeni to serve public interests which it considers peripheral to its primary objectives, such as farm structure, environmental impact of farm technology, economic opportunity and consumer interests. Private funding, providing a mere four percent of the total budget for agricultural research, has been cited as having a disproportionate influence on agricultural research, contributing to many of the aforementiond concerns. In researching The Path Not Taken, the Center for Rural Affairs has moved beyond a critique of what researchers do to examine how they decide what they do — what are the factors that shap>e individual research decisions. The book is a case study of agricultural research decision-making at the University of Nebraska's animal science department. Working with the Department Head and the Dean of the School, the authors, some of them university students, examined two broad themes influencing the direction of research in the department: private financing through grants and public accountability, llie former includes the fund-raising burden on scientists and its impact on research problem choice, the latter implies the entire framework within which the use of public research funds are determined. Financial reports, interviews with scientists, meetings with aU levels of university accounting and finance personnel and animal research rep)orts provided the raw material for this report. Each chapter analyzes some segment of the research system: how animal science research is funded, the role of private funding (both “industry" money and farm group grants), funding mixes and internal allocation of research funds. Numerous examples and exceipts from interviews are woven in. A concluding chapter summarizes issues in research decision-making, the major criticism of which is the narrowness of the decision-making prcKess: “ . . . what we have described is not a system of decision-making that is sinister or corrupt, but one that is insular, and in some important ways, unaccoimtable." The system, they suggest, is largely determined by internal factors such as the pecking order, career decisions, and economic and political pressures which make it difficult to turn down research contracts. The Path Not Taken is an excellent resource both for the process it represents and for the information it offers. Outlining the constraints and influences that prevail upon the university scientist the authors have produced a responsible critique of agricultural research. Marty Strange, the Center for Rural Affairs' co-director and one of the authors of this study, has also prepared an excellent article under the title “Who Pays for Agricultural Research?" which was printed in the Center's new periodical. Prairie Sentinel (Vol. 1, No. 2, available for $2.00 from the address above). The cirtide traces some of the insidious trends unfolding in agricultural research — particularly through the influence of private grants. The Sentinel covers a wide range of topics, from agricultural jxjlitics to farm financing, from ecological concerns to technical asp>ects of farming. IhibUshed bimonthly at $10.00/yr., the Sentinel is a good buy for the money. — Laura Stu- chinsky Farmland or Wasteland: A Time to Choose, by Neil Sampson, 1981, 422 pp., $16.95 from: Rodale Press 33 East Minor Street Emmaus, PA 18049 Farmers are different, for their business does not exist within four man-made walls that can be as easily used for another purpose or rebuilt at another place or time. If a farmer fails because he has ruined the land, the ability of many other persons to succeed has also been lost. If too many farmers fail, the ability ofsociety to succeed has been lost. That means the success of thefarmer's business is, in part, everybody's concern. Neil Sampson deftly combines the perspectives of the farmer and the policymaker in Farmland or Wasteland: A Time to choose. Raised on an Idaho wheat farm, with eight years' experience as a field technician in the Soil Conservation Service, Sampson is now executive vice president of the National Association of Conservation Districts. His timely call for conservation of our natural resources highlights the difficult decisions farmers are facing between immediate economic pressures and long range soil conservation and productivity. Beginning with a tnief historical account of conservation efforts in the U.S., Sampson quickly moves on to the whys and wherefores of farmland destruction. Unrealistic demands by citizens and policymakers for more food at lower prices without damage to the resource base; the growth of a global market which makes farmers prey to international politics; increasing competition for capital which leaves most farmers on the losing end; and public policies which often encourage exploitation of the land all put pressure on farmers and hence on their land. Compounding the problems are physical stresses such as declining water quality coupled with rising demand, farmland conversion to non-farm uses, declining soil quality and erosion. Most farmers and consumers are simply unaware of the seriousness of the situation while professionals debate statistics. Sampson balances his detailed analysis of the problems with prescriptions for positive action. Chapters on protecting agricultural land (including mention of organic gardening, no-till farming, and contour strip-cropping); public programs, past and present; and new crops—many with the potential to replace imports — present a variety of strategies that are being tested as a means of protecting our land base. An underlying principle of an effective farm policy, Sampson suggests, must be the assurance of ftiture economic and social stability for the farmers. A sampling of practical strategies such as sliding scale cost-sharing between farmers and the public for conservation programs, crosscompliance requiring USDA program participants to protect their soil, and reduced penalities in government programs for farmers who volcmtarily practice soil conservation are outlined under “New Strategies for Action." Farmland or Wasteland concludes with a call to business and industry to “forego the quick profits of farmland waste and design products that wUl earn the steady long term profits of a permanent society." Sage advice. — Laura Stuchinsky
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