Ihe Unraveling of Agrarian America: A Retrospective on the 1980s

The coauthors recount their observations and experiences in addressing the Farm Crisis throughout the 1980s. Their experiences highlight the challenges of rapid socioeconomic changes, the growing concentration of economic power, and the restructuring of the farm economy as Iowa grappled with the Farm Crisis that engulfed farmers and soon engulfed the entire state. Through the lenses of a community organizer and an academic rural sociologist, the authors provide insights into the myriad contradictions and opposing forces that contributed to the difficult and prolonged financial crisis that accelerated the trends of further consolidation and industrialization of farming and the food system. Much like the Great Depression of the 1930s, the landscape of rural Iowa bears the scars of the 1980s Farm Crisis that has forever changed the economy and culture of rural, farm-dependent communities.