Edna Spalding finds herself alone and broke on a small farm in the midst of the Great Depression when her husband the Sheriff is killed in an accident. A wandering black man, Moses, helps her to plant cotton to try and keep her farm and her kids together. She also takes on a blind border, Mr. Will, who lost his sight in the first World War. She must endure storms and harsh labor to try and make her mortgage payment on time.
After reading Omnivores Dilemma and hearing about the mis-truth's we are told about organic, free range, cage free food. I found this article that supports that the shopper should be wear. Is organic food good? Yes, but is the truth about it's claims the truth, it seems the truth may be stretched in the marketing.
This is a timeline of American Agriculture. Notice the amount of fertilizer being used, and how it changes. It also shows the time it takes to grow a bushel of corn.
A thick fog surrounds California's borders, communication beyond state lines is cut off, and the Mexicans disappear: workers, spouses, and business owners are missing. Cars are abandoned in the street, food is left cooking on the stove. We meet the wife of a musician who's gone, a state Senator whose maid doesn't show up for work, and a farm owner whose produce is ripe and unpicked. A scientist asks any Mexicans who haven't disappeared to volunteer for genetic experiments: a female newscaster and the daughter of the musician may be the only missing links around. Why them? And where have all the Mexicans gone? Even the border guards grieve. The state and its economy grind to a halt.
I have a cousin that has done a lot of work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida. It is an organization that works for the rights of migrant farm workers. http://www.ciw-online.org/freedom_march/index.html. There is also a link to the Modern Day Slavery Museum that travels around the South Eastern US.
The book Tops and Bottoms teaches children about the parts of the vegetables that have the food we eat. Some plants the food grows on top of the soil and others grow in the ground below the soil. The story teaches students about knowing your vegetables and how to run a business.