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Farming Communities in the Western Alps, 1500–1914: The Enduring Bond (Historical Geography and Geosciences)
by Robert DodgshonThis monograph explores traditional farming communities in French-speaking areas of the western Alps for the period 1500-1914 and how they endured in such an environment despite the many problems and risks which it posed for their subsistence and welfare. Using an extensive amount of archival material drawn from the relevant regional archives, the book presents a great deal of fresh data. Its central theme is how such communities responded to the opportunities and challenges presented by the highly variegated environment of their setting. The view taken is that their strategies of exploitation stressed diversity and flexibility, mapping the highly varied ecologies and resource opportunities of their setting into these strategies by spreading livelihood and risk as widely as possible. This interpretative framework is developed across all the book's themes: landholding, arable and livestock sectors, use of the commons and, finally, how communities coped with climate-based risks.The book appeals to geographers, historians, environmental scientists and everyone interested in traditional farming communities and their long-term challenges.
Farming, Famine and Plague
by Kathleen PribylThis book is situated at the cross-roads of environmental, agricultural and economic history and climate science. It investigates the climatic background for the two most significant risk factors for life in the crisis-prone England of the Later Middle Ages: subsistence crisis and plague. Based on documentary data from eastern England, the late medieval growing season temperature is reconstructed and the late summer precipitation of that period indexed. Using these data, and drawing together various other regional (proxy) data and a wide variety of contemporary documentary sources, the impact of climatic variability and extremes on agriculture, society and health are assessed. Vulnerability and resilience changed over time: before the population loss in the Great Pestilence in the mid-fourteenth century meteorological factors contributing to subsistence crises were the main threat to the English people, after the arrival of Yersinia pestis it was the weather conditions that faciliated the formation of recurrent major plague outbreaks. Agriculture and harvest success in late medieval England were inextricably linked to both short term weather extremes and longer term climatic fluctuations. In this respect the climatic transition period in the Late Middle Ages (c. 1250-1450) is particularly important since the broadly favourable conditions for grain cultivation during the Medieval Climate Optimum gave way to the Little Ice Age, when agriculture was faced with many more challenges; the fourteenth century in particular was marked by high levels of climatic variability.
Farming, Food and Nature: Respecting Animals, People and the Environment (Earthscan Food and Agriculture)
by Joyce D'Silva Carol McKennaLivestock production and its use of finite resources is devastating biodiversity and pushing wildlife to the brink of extinction. This powerful book examines the massive global impact caused by intensive livestock production and then explores solutions, ranging from moving to agroecological farming to reducing consumption of animal products, including examples of best practice and innovation, both on land and within the investment and food industries. Leading international contributors spell out the problems in terms of planetary limits, climate change, resources, the massive use of cereals and soy for animal feed, and the direct impact of industrial farming on the welfare of farmed animals. They call for an urgent move to a flourishing food system for the sake of animals, the planet and us. Some offer examples of global good practice in farming or the power of the investment community to drive change, and others highlight food business innovation and exciting developments in protein diversification. Providing a highly accessible overview of key issues, this book creates a timely resource for all concerned about the environmental, social and ethical issues facing food, farming and nature. It will be an invaluable resource and provide inspiration for students, professionals, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the general reader.
Farming for Food and Water Security
by Eric LichtfouseSustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for our children. This discipline addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, starvation, obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control and biodiversity depletion. Novel solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, philosophy and social sciences. As actual society issues are now intertwined, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series analyzes current agricultural issues and proposes alternative solutions, consequently helping all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians wishing to build safe agriculture, energy and food systems for future generations.
Farming for the Long Haul: Lessons From Indigenous, Peasant, And Traditional Farmers
by Michael FoleyIt’s all but certain that the next fifty years will bring enormous, not to say cataclysmic, disruptions to our present way of life. World oil reserves will be exhausted within that time frame, as will the lithium that powers today’s most sophisticated batteries, suggesting that transportation is equally imperiled. And there’s another, even more dire limitation that is looming: at current rates of erosion, the world’s topsoil will be gone in sixty years. Fresh water sources are in jeopardy, too. In short, the large-scale agricultural and food delivery system as we know it has at most a few decades before it exhausts itself and the planet with it. Farming for the Long Haul is about building a viable small farm economy that can withstand the economic, political, and climatic shock waves that the twenty-first century portends. It draws on the innovative work of contemporary farmers, but more than that, it shares the experiences of farming societies around the world that have maintained resilient agricultural systems over centuries of often-turbulent change. Indigenous agriculturalists, peasants, and traditional farmers have all created broad strategies for survival through good times and bad, and many of them prospered. They also developed particular techniques for managing soil, water, and other resources sustainably. Some of these techniques have been taken up by organic agriculture and permaculture, but many more of them are virtually unknown, even among alternative farmers. This book lays out some of these strategies and presents techniques and tools that might prove most useful to farmers today and in the uncertain future.
Farming in Carroll County
by Lyndi McnultyCarroll County's road signs are a testament to the farm families who settled here. Bollinger, Hoff, Roop, Baugher, Royer, Bushey, and many more are road names that honor those who have produced food for themselves and the nation in times of peace, war, and the Great Depression. In 1917, when the first county agricultural agent arrived, 96.6 percent of the land was held in 3,384 farms. By 1926, Carroll County, Maryland, led the state in corn, swine, and poultry production. It was second in dairy and beef, and it was the world leader in wormseed oil production. A prominent feature of Carroll County's landscape has always been the red barns, and they still are today. The photographs in this book were collected from farm families and historical organizations, portraying a unique insider's view of the history of farm life in Carroll County.
Farming in the City (Fountas & Pinnell LLI Purple #Level S)
by Mia LewisThe Perks of Being a City Gardener. Living in the city doesn't mean you have to go without a vegetable garden. It just means you have to garden smart and find creative ways to grow more plants in less space. If you do, you'll be rewarded with flavorful, healthy, environmentally friendly, and fresh food--plus what many city gardeners say is a great sense of accomplishment!
Farming Industry: Images Of The Past (Images of the Past)
by Jon Sutherland Diane CanwellWorking with prestigious archives of contemporary photographs, the authors chart the history of Britain's farming heritage with 120 rarely seen photographs. Nearly eleven thousand years ago humans moved away from hunting and gathering and began to raise livestock and plant crops. Our nostalgia for the way the countryside had been is an enduring passion. Ultimately mechanization began to replace more traditional forms of farming, and the Industrial Revolution was drawing more and more people away from the fields. Photography emerged at a crucial time when farming tasks could be done with a speed and on a scale previously unimaginable. Farming history has been driven by experimentation, innovation, and invention. The 19th century was one of those times marked by such change. This book looks at that pivotal period in history after which the British countryside would never be the same.
Farming on the Fringe
by Sarah JamesThis volume offers a new perspective to debates on local food and urban sustainability presenting the long silenced voices of the small-scale farmers from the productive green fringe of Sydney's sprawling urban jungle. Providing fresh food for the city and local employment, these culturally and linguistically diverse farmers contribute not only to Sydney's globalizing demographic and cultural fabric, but also play a critical role in the city's environmental sustainability. In the battle for urban space housing development threatens to turn these farmlands into sprawling suburbia. In thinking from and with the urban 'fringe', this book moves beyond the housing versus farming debate to present a vision for urban growth that is dynamic and alive to the needs of the 21st century city. In a unique bringing together of the twin forces shaping contemporary urbanism - environmental change and global population flows - the voices from the fringe demand to be heard in the debate on future urban food sustainability.
Farming on the Wild Side: The Evolution of a Regenerative Organic Farm and Nursery
by Nancy J. Hayden John P. HaydenOne farm’s decades-long journey into regenerative agriculture—and how these methods enhance biodiversity, pollinators, and soil health Northern Vermont’s Nancy and John Hayden have spent the last 25 years transforming their draft horse–powered, organic vegetable and livestock operation into an agroecological, regenerative, biodiverse, organic fruit farm, fruit nursery, and pollinator sanctuary. In Farming on the Wild Side they explain the philosophical and scientific principles that influenced them as they phased out sheep and potatoes and embraced apples, pears, stone fruits, and a wide variety of uncommon berry crops; turned much of their property into a semi-wild state; and adapted their marketing and sales strategies to the new century. As the Haydens pursued their goals of enhancing biodiversity and regenerating their land, they incorporated agroforestry and permaculture principles into perennial fruit polycultures, a pollinator sanctuary, repurposed greenhouses for growing fruit, hügelkultur, and ecological “pest” management. Beyond the practical techniques and tips, this book also inspires readers to develop greater ecological literacy and respect for the mysteries of the global ecosystem. Farming on the Wild Side tells a story about new ways to manage small farms and homesteads, about nurturing land, about ecology, about economics, and about things that we can all do to heal both the land and ourselves.
Farming Systems and Food Security in Africa: Priorities for Science and Policy Under Global Change (Earthscan Food and Agriculture)
by John Dixon Dennis P. Garrity Jean-Marc Boffa Timothy O. Williams Tilahun Amede Christopher Auricht Rosemary Lott George MburathiKnowledge of Africa’s complex farming systems, set in their socio-economic and environmental context, is an essential ingredient to developing effective strategies for improving food and nutrition security. This book systematically and comprehensively describes the characteristics, trends, drivers of change and strategic priorities for each of Africa’s fifteen farming systems and their main subsystems. It shows how a farming systems perspective can be used to identify pathways to household food security and poverty reduction, and how strategic interventions may need to differ from one farming system to another. In the analysis, emphasis is placed on understanding farming systems drivers of change, trends and strategic priorities for science and policy. Illustrated with full-colour maps and photographs throughout, the volume provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of Africa’s farming systems and pathways for the future to improve food and nutrition security. The book is an essential follow-up to the seminal work Farming Systems and Poverty by Dixon and colleagues for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Bank, published in 2001.
Farming Systems Research into the 21st Century: The New Dynamic
by Benoît Dedieu David Gibbon Ika DarnhoferFarming Systems Research has three core characteristics: it builds on systems thinking, it depends on the close collaboration between social and biophysical sciences, and it relies on participation to build co-learning processes. Farming Systems Research posits that to contribute towards sustainable rural development, both interdisciplinary collaborations and local actor engagement are needed. Together, they allow for changes in understanding and changes in practices. This book gives an overview of the insights generated in 20 years of Farming Systems Research. It retraces the emergence and development of Farming Systems Research in Europe, summarises the state-of-the-art for key areas, and provides an outlook on new explorations, especially those tackling the dynamic nature of farming systems and their interaction with the natural environment and the context of action.
Farming the Black Earth: Sustainable and Climate-Smart Management of Chernozem Soils (International Year Of Planet Earth Ser.)
by Boris Boincean David Dent'This book deals with the sustainability of agriculture on the Black Earth by drawing on data from long-term field experiments. It emphasises the opportunities for greater food and water security at local and regional levels.The Black Earth, Chernozem in Russian, is the best arable soil in the world and the breadbasket of Europe and North America. It was the focus of scientific study at the very beginnings of soil science in the late 19th century—as a world in itself, created by the roots of the steppe grasses building a water-stable granular structure that holds plentiful water, allows rapid infiltration of rain and snow melt, and free drainage of any surplus.Under the onslaught of industrial farming, Chernozem have undergone profound but largely unnoticed changes with far-reaching consequences—to the point that agriculture on Chernozem is no longer sustainable. The effects of agricultural practices on global warming, the diversion of rainfall away from replenishment of water resources to destructive runoff, and the pollution of streams and groundwater are all pressing issues. Sustainability absolutely requires that these consequences be arrested.
Farming the Red Land: Jewish Agricultural Colonization and Local Soviet Power, 1924-1941
by Jonathan L. Dekel-ChenThis is the first history of the Jewish agricultural colonies that were established in Crimea and Southern Ukraine in 1924 and that, fewer than 20 years later, ended in tragedy. Jonathan Dekel-Chen opens an extraordinary window on Soviet rural life during these turbulent years, and he documents the remarkable relations that developed among the American-Jewish sponsors of the ambitious project, the Soviet authorities, and the colonists themselves. Drawing on extensive and largely untouched archives and a wealth of previously unpublished oral histories, the book revises what has been understood about these agricultural settlements. Dekel-Chen offers new conclusions about integration and separation among Soviet Jews, the contours of international relations, and the balance of political forces within the Jewish world during this volatile period.
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
by Leah Penniman Karen WashingtonIn 1920, 14 percent of all land-owning US farmers were black. Today less than 2 percent of farms are controlled by black people—a loss of over 14 million acres and the result of discrimination and dispossession. While farm management is among the whitest of professions, farm labor is predominantly brown and exploited, and people of color disproportionately live in “food apartheid” neighborhoods and suffer from diet-related illness. The system is built on stolen land and stolen labor and needs a redesign. Farming While Black is the first comprehensive “how to” guide for aspiring African-heritage growers to reclaim their dignity as agriculturists and for all farmers to understand the distinct, technical contributions of African-heritage people to sustainable agriculture. At Soul Fire Farm, author Leah Penniman co-created the Black and Latinx Farmers Immersion (BLFI) program as a container for new farmers to share growing skills in a culturally relevant and supportive environment led by people of color. Farming While Black organizes and expands upon the curriculum of the BLFI to provide readers with a concise guide to all aspects of small-scale farming, from business planning to preserving the harvest. Throughout the chapters Penniman uplifts the wisdom of the African diasporic farmers and activists whose work informs the techniques described—from whole farm planning, soil fertility, seed selection, and agroecology, to using whole foods in culturally appropriate recipes, sharing stories of ancestors, and tools for healing from the trauma associated with slavery and economic exploitation on the land. Woven throughout the book is the story of Soul Fire Farm, a national leader in the food justice movement. The technical information is designed for farmers and gardeners with beginning to intermediate experience. For those with more experience, the book provides a fresh lens on practices that may have been taken for granted as ahistorical or strictly European. Black ancestors and contemporaries have always been leaders—and continue to lead—in the sustainable agriculture and food justice movements. It is time for all of us to listen.
Farming with Native Beneficial Insects: Ecological Pest Control Solutions
by The Xerces SocietyHarness the power of beneficial insects to deter pests and reduce crop damage. This comprehensive guide to farming with insects will have you building beetle banks and native plant field borders as you reap a bountiful and pesticide-free harvest. With strategies for identifying the insects you’re trying to attract paired with step-by-step instructions for a variety of habitat-building projects, you’ll soon learn how to employ your own biocontrol conservation tactics. Lay out the brush piles and plant the hedgerows because the insects are going to love it here!
Farmland Preservation: Land for Future Generations
by Wayne J. Caldwell Stew Hilts Bronwynne WiltonAs land is lost to urban sprawl and other non-farm activity, our ability to produce food is diminished and options for future food production are limited. Farmland preservation speaks to the need to preserve the agricultural land base for future generations. The need for protection is driven by uncertainty caused by climate change, population growth, food security, energy availability, and other local and global factors. This uncertainty means that there is an ever-growing responsibility to ensure that the actions of today do not compromise the needs of future generations. This second edition of "Farmland Preservation" provides a range of views and case studies from across Canada, the United States, and beyond. Its fourteen essays are intended to help the reader understand the importance of the issue and the potential for applying new approaches to agricultural protection, policy tools, and initiatives.
Farms Trees and Farmers: Responses to Agricultural Intensification
by J. E. Arnold Peter A. DeweesThis title aims to provide introductory and concluding surveys of the subject of farms, trees and farmers. Two central parts explore trends in farmer tree-growing and the factors which influence decision-making. Eight case studies cover, among other topics, the need for tree products, market access, the allocation of land and labour, and exposure to risk. In showing why farmers decide to grow or not grow trees, it seeks to increase the reader's knowledge about farming systems and to provide a guide to encouraging farm forestry throughout the world.
Farms with a Future
by Rebecca ThistlethwaiteWhat makes a farm sustainable and successful? And what special qualities and skills are needed for someone to become a successful farmer?Rebecca Thistlethwaite addresses these and other crucial questions in this uniquely important book, which is a must-read for anyone who aspires to get into farming, or who wants to make their farm business more dynamic, profitable, and, above all, sustainable. Over an entire year, the author and her husband-experienced farmers themselves-took a sabbatical and traveled the length and breadth of the United States to live and work alongside some of the nation's most innovative farmers. Along the way they learned about best practices, and a whole lot about what doesn't work. Farms with a Futureshares this collective wisdom in an inspirational yet practical manner; it will help beginners avoid many of the common mistakes that first-time farmers make. Just as importantly, it discusses positive ideas that can help make any farm enterprise vibrant and financially profitable. Profiles of more than a dozen representative farms help round out the invaluable information and encourage farmers to embrace their inner entrepreneur. Younger growers, in particular, will benefit by learning about "the right stuff" from both their peers and longtime experts. This book provides a useful reference for beginning and experienced farmers alike. While many other books address agricultural production, there are very few that talk about business management for long-term sustainability. Farms with a Futureoffers an approachable, colorful take on building a triple-bottom-line farming business.
Farmstead Chef (Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living)
by John D. Ivanko Lisa KiviristJoin Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, proprietors of the award-winning Inn Serendipity, as they launch a return to our roots of independence, self-sufficiency, and frugality, blended with the spice of modern living. Farmstead Chef whips up a quirky, homespun tale of how we can eat well, nourish our bodies, and restore the planet. Rediscover the benefits of homegrown food and homemade cooking, preserving the harvest, and stocking the pantry, all while building community.From breakfasts to mouth-watering desserts, Farmstead Chef showcases the creative and budget-friendly side to eating lower on the food chain more often while taking responsibility for the food we put into our bodies-by growing it, sharing it, and savoring it. Recipes include:*Zuchini Feta Pancakes*Winter Squash Fritters*Herb-Infused Spare Ribs*Strawberry Dessert Pizza*Homemade Graham CrackersAfter your meal, pull up a chair and enjoy inviting slice-of-life "Kitchen Table" features, such as interviews with local food heroes and visionaries transforming our food system. Farmstead Chef also shares practical cooking tips and lively short essays inspired by John and Lisa's organic, self-reliant homestead and bed and breakfast. This fully illustrated cookbook will show you how to reconnect with nature through food, especially when shared with friends.Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko are co-authors of the award-winning Ecopreneuring and Rural Renaissance. Lisa is also a distinguished Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow, and John is co-author and principal photographer for six multicultural children's books. John and Lisa are innkeepers of the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast.
The Farmstead Creamery Advisor
by Gianaclis CaldwellThere has never been a better time to be making and selling great cheese. People worldwide are consuming more high-quality, handmade cheese than ever before. The number of artisan cheesemakers has doubled in recent years, and many of the industry's newcomers are "farmstead" producers- those who work only with the milk of their own animals. Today, more than ever before, the people who choose to become farmer-cheesemakers need access to the knowledge of established cheese artisans who can help them build their dream. Few career choices lead to such extremes of labor, emotion, and monetary challenge. InThe Farmstead Creamery Advisor, respected cheesemaker, instructor, and speaker Gianaclis Caldwell walks would-be producers through the many, and often confusing, steps and decisions they will face when considering a career in this burgeoning cottage industry. This book fills the gap that exists between the pasture and cheese plate. It goes far beyond issues of caring for livestock and basic cheesemaking, explaining business issues such as: Analyzing your suitability for the career Designing and building the cheese facility Sizing up the market Negotiating day-to-day obstacles Ensuring maximum safety and efficiency Drawing from her own and other cheesemakers' experiences, Caldwell brings to life the story of creating a successful cheesemaking business in a practical, organized manner. Absolutely essential for anyone interested in becoming a licensed artisan cheesemaker,The Farmstead Creamery Advisorwill also appeal to the many small and hobby-farm owners who already have milking animals and who wish to improve their home dairy practices and facilities.
The Farnley Hall Service: A Unique Survivor in Nantgarw Porcelain
by Howell G. EdwardsThis book covers the discovery and the results of the analytical study of the composition of the Farnley Hall service, involving both the embossed moulding and the decorative compositions. The discovery of this missing porcelain service, which was manufactured 200 years ago, is a modern detective story in the preservation of cultural heritage, whilst its physical analysis has identified some new data that need to be incorporated into correcting and expanding the literature that is used for the differentiation of porcelains by ceramic historians and museum conservators. The importance of the Farnley Hall service discovery is that it provides the only example of such a Nantgarw Porcelain service that still resides in its original place of usage from 200 years ago: it is therefore a unique example and is a very important part of our national cultural heritage. It provides an illustration of the data that can be accessed from the application of inductive reasoning to elicit novel information about a manufactory whose work books no longer exist and its comparison with contemporary manufactories in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The concepts can be appreciated by experts and also by non-technical readers. This is the first time that such a detailed research approach has been adopted for any comparative ceramic project. The book is therefore relevant for a specialist and non-specialist readership, including museum ceramics curators and collectors of the genre.
Fascia, Function, and Medical Applications
by David Lesondak; Angeli Maun AkeyFascia, Function, and Medical Applications is essential reading for medical and allied health practitioners who want to bring scientific insights of the importance of fascia to human health into their clinical practices. Fascia – the biodynamic tissue that connects every muscle, bone, organ, and nerve in the body – is fast becoming the latest trend in healthcare and allied health modalities. This book is edited by David Lesondak, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, author of the international bestseller Fascia: What it is and why it matters, and Angeli Maun Akey, MD, international physician educator and board certified in both internal and integrative medicine. It contains contributions from a team of top researchers and expert practitioners including physicians, clinicians, therapists, dissectors, and surgeons. Fully illustrated in color, this book presents the latest scientific knowledge of fascia and explains insights into problems like chronic pain and myriad musculoskeletal symptoms that may not respond to conventional treatments. It gives practitioners the information they need to make better decisions to improve the health of patients often without pharmaceuticals or surgeries. FEATURES • Provides comprehensive overview of how fascia, as a tissue and a system, affects various body functions and systems, from musculoskeletal disorders to nervous system, circulatory, and auto-immune function. • A section devoted to medical applications highlights a comprehensive and critical overview of various fascial therapies. • Gives practitioners the knowledge they need to refer or add as an adjunct therapy to their department or rehabilitation team. This is a cutting-edge, practical guide that will appeal to researchers, physicians, and clinicians alike.
Fascist Pigs: Technoscientific Organisms and the History of Fascism
by Tiago SaraivaIn the fascist regimes of Mussolini's Italy, Salazar's Portugal, and Hitler's Germany, the first mass mobilizations involved wheat engineered to take advantage of chemical fertilizers, potatoes resistant to late blight, and pigs that thrived on national produce. Food independence was an early goal of fascism; indeed, as Tiago Saraiva writes in Fascist Pigs, fascists were obsessed with projects to feed the national body from the national soil. Saraiva shows how such technoscientific organisms as specially bred wheat and pigs became important elements in the institutionalization and expansion of fascist regimes. The pigs, the potatoes, and the wheat embodied fascism. In Nazi Germany, only plants and animals conforming to the new national standards would be allowed to reproduce. Pigs that didn't efficiently convert German-grown potatoes into pork and lard were eliminated.Saraiva describes national campaigns that intertwined the work of geneticists with new state bureaucracies; discusses fascist empires, considering forced labor on coffee, rubber, and cotton in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Eastern Europe; and explores fascist genocides, following Karakul sheep from a laboratory in Germany to Eastern Europe, Libya, Ethiopia, and Angola.Saraiva's highly original account -- the first systematic study of the relation between science and fascism -- argues that the "back to the land" aspect of fascism should be understood as a modernist experiment involving geneticists and their organisms, mass propaganda, overgrown bureaucracy, and violent colonialism.
Fascist Pigs: Technoscientific Organisms and the History of Fascism (Inside Technology)
by Tiago SaraivaHow the breeding of new animals and plants was central to fascist regimes in Italy, Portugal, and Germany and to their imperial expansion. In the fascist regimes of Mussolini's Italy, Salazar's Portugal, and Hitler's Germany, the first mass mobilizations involved wheat engineered to take advantage of chemical fertilizers, potatoes resistant to late blight, and pigs that thrived on national produce. Food independence was an early goal of fascism; indeed, as Tiago Saraiva writes in Fascist Pigs, fascists were obsessed with projects to feed the national body from the national soil. Saraiva shows how such technoscientific organisms as specially bred wheat and pigs became important elements in the institutionalization and expansion of fascist regimes. The pigs, the potatoes, and the wheat embodied fascism. In Nazi Germany, only plants and animals conforming to the new national standards would be allowed to reproduce. Pigs that didn't efficiently convert German-grown potatoes into pork and lard were eliminated.Saraiva describes national campaigns that intertwined the work of geneticists with new state bureaucracies; discusses fascist empires, considering forced labor on coffee, rubber, and cotton in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Eastern Europe; and explores fascist genocides, following Karakul sheep from a laboratory in Germany to Eastern Europe, Libya, Ethiopia, and Angola. Saraiva's highly original account—the first systematic study of the relation between science and fascism—argues that the “back to the land” aspect of fascism should be understood as a modernist experiment involving geneticists and their organisms, mass propaganda, overgrown bureaucracy, and violent colonialism.