Cultivating science, harvesting power : science and industrial agriculture in California /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Henke, Christopher, 1969-
Imprint:Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2008.
Description:1 online resource (xi, 226 pages) : illustrations, map
Language:English
Series:Inside technology
Inside technology.
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11178989
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780262275286
0262275287
9781435667990
1435667999
9780262263191
026226319X
9780262083737
0262083736
Digital file characteristics:data file
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-215) and index.
Print version record.
Summary:Christopher R. Henke reveals how agricultural scientists and growers in California have cooperated - and struggled - in shaping the state's multi-billion-dollar farm industry.
Other form:Print version: Henke, Christopher, 1969- Cultivating science, harvesting power. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2008 9780262083737 0262083736
Description
Summary:

How agricultural scientists and growers in California have cooperated--and struggled--in shaping the state's multi-billion-dollar farm industry.

Just south of San Francisco lies California's Salinas Valley, the heart of a multi-billion dollar agricultural industry that dominates U. S. vegetable production. How did the sleepy valley described in the stories of John Steinbeck become the nation's "salad bowl"? In Cultivating Science, Harvesting Power , Christopher R. Henke explores the ways that science helped build the Salinas Valley and California's broader farm industry. Henke focuses on the case of University of California "farm advisors," scientists stationed in counties throughout the state who have stepped forward to help growers deal with crises ranging from labor shortages to plagues of insects. These disruptions in what Henke terms industrial agriculture's "ecology of power" provide a window onto how agricultural scientists and growers have collaborated--and struggled--in shaping this industry. Through these interventions, Henke argues, science has served as a mechanism of repair for industrial agriculture. Basing his analysis on detailed ethnographic and historical research, Henke examines the history of state-sponsored farm advising--in particular, its roots in Progressive Era politics--and looks at both past and present practices by farm advisors in the Salinas Valley. He goes on to examine specific examples, including the resolution of a farm labor crisis during World War II at the Spreckels Sugar Company, the use of field trials for promoting new farming practices, and farm advisors' and growers' responses to environmental issues. Beyond this, Henke argues that the concept of repair is broadly applicable to other cases and that expertise can be deployed more generally to encourage change for the future of American agriculture.

Physical Description:1 online resource (xi, 226 pages) : illustrations, map
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-215) and index.
ISBN:9780262275286
0262275287
9781435667990
1435667999
9780262263191
026226319X
9780262083737
0262083736