Leopold Center - People Sustaining the Land book review

People Sustaining the Land
Cynthia Vagnetti and Jerry DeWitt
2605 NW 5th Street, Ankeny, IA 50021
118 pp., $24.95

Growing up on a farm, I know that farmers can spin some of the best tales. I know that photographers also are wonderful storytellers; several gifted news photographers I have worked with over the years have given life to many of my newspaper assignments.

So when I heard about two photographers who were traveling the country to capture the stories and thoughts of American farmers, I knew it would be a winner. People Sustaining the Land is all that I expected -- and more. It is a lesson in sustainable agriculture and a Saturday morning visit over coffee, all rolled into one. Crafted in both pictures and the farmers' own words, the result is a heartwarming and hopeful snapshot of what works in agriculture today.

Iowa readers will recognize at least one of the authors, Jerry DeWitt of Iowa State University. A 30-year extension educator, entomologist and sustainable ag program leader, DeWitt set off on a one-year sabbatical to follow two passions: photography and family farmers.

DeWitt joined Cynthia Vagnetti, a documentary photographer and video producer who began her journey in 1987 as a thesis project to depict change in rural areas through the stories and pictures of Illinois dairy farmers.

In 1998, the two went to 38 states, traveling 45,000 miles and crossing the Mississippi River 13 times. They visited more than 35 farm and ranch families, staying with each several days at least twice during the year. They interviewed them, worked with them and took photographs of the people, places and landscapes they had seen.

DeWitt took more than 6,000 color images (animals and landscapes), while Vagnetti captured stories from the farmers and their families in videotaped interviews and over 1,000 black-and-white images. This book includes just 53 photographs and a short, first-person narrative from each of the 26 farmers and ranchers who are profiled.

The stories that emerge are authentic and heart-felt. The book also provides a good look at sustainable agricultural practices -- unique to each operation and region -- sprinkled with a healthy dose of farm-bred philosophy.

"In the process of being sustainable, you don't want to be sustainable at the risk of your neighbors, or at risk of damaging your environment or damaging anything," says Ephron Lewis, a Memphis farmer who shared how he raises rice, soybeans and wheat more sustainably. "You want to be sustainable and still be accountable, and that's the way I would put it."

Other stories come from chili growers in New Mexico, vegetable farmers in New York, beef producers in Nebraska, and fruit growers in Texas, Florida and Washington. I especially enjoyed reading perspectives from two Iowa land stewards -- Fairfield dairy farmer Francis Thicke and Ron Risdall of Roland, who's been working with the Leopold Center for years on the Bear Creek demonstration project.

All farmers share the details of how they care for the land and why, as well as what they've learned from their experiences. Although the specifics are different in each story, the conclusion is the same one that Aldo Leopold discovered: land has its own story to tell.

In her introduction, Vagnetti writes: "In 1987 an Illinois farmer took me to the edge of a freshly plowed field and pointed to the horizon, saying, 'There's an education out there.' After living with farm families and walking in the shoes of well over 100 farmers, both men and women, I can speak with knowledge about a land-based wisdom that evolves from each farmer's deep and intimate love with the land."

The self-published book is available from the authors for $24.95 (make checks payable to PSTL). Copies also are being sold at Big Table Books in Ames and by Practical Farmers of Iowa.

Sixty-one photos, 15 audio clips and one video clip from the project were featured in "Gifts and Graces of the Land," published in the July 1999 issue of The Digital Journalist. A second book to feature DeWitt's photographs, Renewing the Countryside: Iowa, is scheduled to be released in 2003. Vagnetti leads a national project documenting the women and their families involved in sustainable practices, which will be touring as Voices of American Farm Women between 2004 and 2008. -- Laura Miller