This Country Life Movement would reign from 1908 until 1917. City living, city jobs were replacing plowed fields. Some worried about a food shortage. To ride out this wave to urban life, farmers and "urban-gardeners" tried to steer children back to rural activities. Around 1900 several names are responsible for encouraging boys to cultivate their rural interests with competing corn crops. In 2002 this worldwide organization celebrated its 100th 4-H anniversary.
Along the way, in 1914, passage of the Smith-Lever Act created the Cooperative Extension Service. However, it was the Hatch Act of 1887 that provided the acreage for land-grant colleges to develop and implement this instruction to preserve and promote the healthy agricultural growth in the United States.
It was not until Rachel Carson turned our attention to pesticides that concern shifted from land use to land abuse. The sixties and following two decades brought a growing, ecological awareness. As a result of this thinking, in 1992, there was a renewed interest in farming and an upswing in rural populations. This farming was called sustainable farming, because, unlike earlier crop production, farmers balanced the resources they took from the land by giving back the nutrients it needed to continue producing healthy foods.
Is this green movement a natural step forward in our understanding of living on earth or has the information age fueled its intensity. Consider our position today without those men who encouraged young boys to compete in corn contests, the congressional effort to strengthen farming, the scientists and writers who voiced concerns.
Today the debate about abuse has intensified and encompasses not just the soil, but the water and air we breathe; it is more than the farmer's impact on our food. The blame and responsibility for this destruction is ageless, colorless, and classless. There are few 21 century naysayers who question the impact of pesticides on good health. In 2030, will your photo ID include the size of your carbon footprint?
