We want to open the farm gates, open the books, and open our hearts to the community and let the world see the true work, rewards, and costs of farming.

Farming Democracy tells the story of family farms doing things differently, working for a ‘new normal’ in agriculture that is fair to soil, water, animals, and people. These farmers are building regenerative, agroecological systems that are viable in an epoch that has seen a sharp decline in the number of farms globally.

To paraphrase a famous philosopher, those who control the means of production control the world. For too long that control has been in the hands of corporate, industrialised agriculture serving the interests and maintaining the wealth of distant shareholders at the expense of the planet and its inhabitants. But things are changing, and the number of regenerative farmers is growing, slowly wresting control back into the hands of the people to the benefit of local communities, ecosystems, and animals everywhere.

Summary

When we talk about the true cost of farming, it can be difficult to identify and quantify the costs that industrialised agriculture is externalising to the environment, animals, workers, and the public’s health and well being. This book posits that if there was full transparency across the food system, it would not look as it does today.

Farming Democracy shows the true cost and labour of farming. We’ve brought together diverse small-scale farms to tell their stories – how they produce their food, where and how it’s processed and value added, how they distribute their produce and connect eaters to the place in which it is grown, who they employ and under what conditions. Each farm has opened their books to share their true revenue and costs to shine a light onto these realities as never before.

This important book shares family farms’ stories, which we hope will inspire more people into farming, and offer insights into what the opportunities and challenges are in running a small-scale regenerative farm in Australia for those already on the land or wanting to know more about alternatives to the industrial food system. More, we hope it will inspire the food sovereignty movement as we work toward a future in which everyone has access to nutritious and culturally-appropriate food grown and distributed in ethical and ecological ways, and can enact their right to democratically determine your own food and agriculture systems.