Meditations on Farming, livre ebook

Unlike any other territorial species, humans have evolved to become agrarians. The unique drive of farmers to cultivate crops and undertake animal husbandry, their tenacious attachment to the land, and their stoic self-reliance are beneficial, but these same qualities also can lead to self-blame and heightened propensities for anxiety, depression, and suicide. Meditations on Farming celebrates nature and agriculture, while tackling a very serious subject: the mental health of food producers. In this collection of essays and stories, Rosmann—a farmer, clinical psychologist, public speaker, policy advocate, professor, and syndicated columnist—traces the development of behavioral health management and other methods for improving the well-being of agricultural producers. Sometimes tragic, often funny, and always engaging, Meditations on Farming shares the insights gained over a lifetime devoted not only to understanding farmers, but to helping and advocating for them.
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Opening Day
2. Why People Farm
3. Life-Shaping Encounters
4. My Wife’s Gardens
5. I Do Some of My Best Thinking in the Raspberry Patch
6. Fishing for Cruisers
7. Refinements to the Little Black Fly
8. Becoming a Grandparent
9. That Was Too Close
10. Indigenous Americans’ Attachment to the Land
11. Lessons Learned about Farmers’ Behavioral Health from the 1980s to Now
12. Sandhills’ Good, Bad, and Ugly
13. Nonplussed
14. Working with Cattle
15. Horse Sense
16. Yikes
17. Farming and Fishing with My Partner
18. Nugget and Hayden’s Excellent Adventure
19. Hot Tubs, Kids, and Farmers’ Bodies
20. Crossing the Border
21. Kids, Fishing, and Land Stewardship
22. What Might Agriculture Be Like in the Foreseeable Future?
23. Next
Mike Rosmann’s Life’s Work