First published 2008
Janet Kauffman blends fiction and essays to examine how industrial agriculture transforms rural Michigan communities. She focuses on confined animal feeding operations and their effects on the people who live nearby. Kauffman writes about CAFO owners, migrant laborers, polluted neighbors, greenhouse operators, environmental advocates, water inspectors, and government workers. Her work ranges from realistic portrayals to surreal visions, from analytical discussion to lyrical passages, from angry protests to sorrowful observations. As a Michigan resident from a farming background, Kauffman brings personal knowledge to her subject. She destroys romantic notions of traditional farming by showing readers the reality of mega-scale meat and dairy operations. The book reveals how these facilities generate massive waste and create barren landscapes. Kauffman examines what happens when agriculture violates natural boundaries and documents the permanent harm this causes to local environments.
Genres: social-issues, environment, agriculture, non-fiction
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-experience, social-commentary
Setting: Michigan
Period: 21st-century
176 pages · Paperback · Wayne State University Press