Voices of Iowa Farm Women
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Laura Krouse was one of seven
Iowa women featured
in a recent documentary project.
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A film that made its debut at the 2004 Iowa State
Fair sheds some light on women who produce and
market food and other home-grown products. One of
the women is Virginia Moser of Garrison in eastern
Iowa.
"Like many farm families, our farm went through the
financial crisis in the mid-1980s," she recalls. "We
were conventional farmers up to that point. I kept
the books and I could see we weren’t making it.
"I was always trying to figure out how to do things
differently or do them better because we were
working and the price wasn't there. There had to be
something I could do."
Moser expanded her vegetable garden and began
selling produce at a farmers market in 1986. Now she
and her husband, Marion, grow enough vegetables in
their 10-acre garden to sell at area farmers markets
and bring weekly supplies to about 20 families.
Moser and six other Iowa women are profiled in a new
documentary, "Voices of Iowa Farm Women," produced
by photographer and videographer Cynthia Vagnetti.
The 18-minute program is a project of the Women,
Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN). The film has
been used to launch several discussions, including
an October seminar hosted by the Leopold Center and
Practical Farmers of Iowa.
Laura Krouse of Mt. Vernon said she had always
wanted to be in business as a farmer.
"Ever since I was in college, I decided that I
wanted to farm. My educational training is in
agricultural ecosystems and systems management, so I
knew how I wanted to do it and that it would be an
ecosystems approach to farming."
Today she farms 72 acres, which includes an
eight-acre vegetable garden that supplies 100
families, two acres of native seeded prairie, a
one-acre restored wetland and 10 acres of certified
organic open-pollinated corn.
"Women are not being recognized as farmers," says
WFAN coordinator Denise O'Brien, who also farms near
Atlantic. "This documentary focuses on a different
type of agriculture and women are successful at it.
I hope more women will be encouraged to get into
agriculture once they see these success stories."
Whether by economic necessity or a philosophical
choice, more women are entering agriculture, mostly
the very small operations or enterprises.
According to the 2002 U.S. Census of Agriculture,
there were 237,819 women who were principal
operators of a farm, an increase of 11 percent since
the last census in 1997. In Iowa, women headed 6,204
agricultural enterprises, or 7 percent of the total
90,655 farms. But women comprise more than half of
the owners of very small operations, those with less
than $1,000 in annual sales.
History professor Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, who
participated in the seminar, said she was not
surprised to see more women farmers.
"Women have been part of agriculture throughout our
history," she said. "It may be that we are
re-discovering things that our grandmothers knew
very well, such as the value of hiring your
neighbors, selling to the community, and
capitalizing on urban and rural connections."
"Voices of Iowa Farm Women" is part of a larger
project conducted by Vagnetti, who has interviewed
women from across the United States whose farming
techniques promote environmental responsibility,
economic stability, and community well-being. A
photography exhibit, Voices of American Farm Women,
is booked through 2007 by ExhibitsUSA. The exhibit
is curated by Janet Dykema, director of public
programs at the Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau
Claire, Wisconsin.
Also profiled in the Iowa documentary are Cindy
Madsen of Audubon, Jan Libbey of Kanawha, Laura
Krouse of Mt. Vernon, Susan Zacharakis-Jutz of
Solon, Amy Miller of Cresco and Jeanette Ryan-Busch
of Iowa City.
Upcoming events
January 14 --
Iowa's Potential for
Place-based Foods and Ecolabels, 12:30-4:45 p.m.,
Airport Holiday Inn, Des Moines. The Leopold Center
and Food Alliance Midwest are hosting this workshop
that will look at opportunities to grow and label
unique food products. The workshop is part of the
2005 Practical Farmers of Iowa annual conference. To
register, contact: Sandra Trca-Black, (515)
232-56661 ext. 101.
January 17 --
"Science, policy and feedback
loops: Applying ecological principles to sustainable
agriculture policy," Semianar by University of Maine
economist Stewart Smith, Noon-1 p.m., Pioneer Room,
ISU Memorial Union, Ames.
March 9-10 -- The 2005
John Pesek Colloquium
on Sustainable Agriculture will feature Hunter Lovins, founder and president of Natural Capitalism,
speaking on sustainable energy.
March 31 -- Deadline to submit nominations
for the 2005 Spencer Award for Sustainable
Agriculture administered by the Leopold Center.
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