Relational Agriculture: Gender, Sexuality, and Sustainability in U.S. Farming

Abstract

Although 97% of U.S. farms are “family-owned,” little research examines how gender and sexual relationships–inherent in familial dynamics–influence farmers’ practices and livelihoods. Gender and sexual dynamics–shaped by race and class–affect who is considered a farmer, land management decisions, and access to resources like land, subsidies, and knowledge. We use feminist and queer lenses to illuminate how today’s agricultural gender and sexual relations are not “natural,” but when left uninterrogated are constructed in ways that harm women and queer farmers while limiting potential to develop sustainable practices. Women and queer farmers also resist, “re-orienting” gender and sexual relations in ways that expand possibilities for achieving food justice and ecological sustainability. We offer “relational agriculture” as a tool for making visible and re-orienting gender and sexual relations on farms. Relational agriculture brings sexuality into food justice and demonstrates the centrality of gender and sexuality to agricultural sustainability.