The Unsettling of America

Culture & Agriculture

Wendell Berry

Recommended By

Book Synopsis

"The Unsettling of America" by Wendell Berry is a penetrating critique of modern industrial agriculture and its detrimental impact on the American landscape, communities, and human well-being. Drawing on his experiences as a farmer, environmental activist, and poet, Berry argues that the dominant model of industrial farming, which focuses on maximizing productivity and profits, is fundamentally unsustainable and degrading to both the land and its inhabitants.

Berry contends that this extractive and exploitative approach to agriculture has led to the erosion of rural communities, the degradation of soil fertility, the loss of biodiversity, and the alienation of individuals from both their food and the natural world. He delves into the social, economic, and ecological consequences of this system, highlighting the importance of small-scale farming, the stewardship of land, and the necessity of honoring local knowledge and traditions.

Throughout the book, Berry offers a powerful indictment of the industrial mindset that prioritizes efficiency and profit over the health of the land and the well-being of individuals. He emphasizes the need for a holistic and ecological approach to farming, one that respects the interconnectedness of all living beings and embraces sustainable practices.

"The Unsettling of America" challenges readers to reconsider their relationship with the land and to recognize the profound impact of our agricultural choices on our health, communities, and the future of our planet. It serves as a call to action for individuals, policymakers, and societies to prioritize the regeneration of the land, the preservation of local economies, and the cultivation of a deep, sustainable connection to the places we call home.

Explore More Books

See All
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
How Will You Measure Your Life?
In-N-Out Burger
The Hot Hand
The American Story
A Peace to End All Peace
The Infidel and the Professor
The British Are Coming
How to Read a Book
Happy Money
Beat the Wealth Management Hustle
Search Inside Yourself
More Than You Know
A Hall of Mirrors
The Great Book of Amber
Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero
Talent
Believe Me
Superforecasting
100 Deadly Skills
Billion Dollar Whale
A History of Rome
The Art of Possibility
The Neverending Story
The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All
The Aspirational Investor
101 Things I Learned in Engineering School
The Net & The Butterfly
Endure
The Story of Civilization: The Age of Louis XIV
The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis
Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens
Oranges
The Constitutional Convention
Trillion Dollar Triage
The Book of Why
The Skeptical Environmentalist
Scaling People
The Little Book of Bull Moves
The Box
Einstein
Prof. Arnold Ehret's Mucusless Diet Healing System
The Surrender Experiment
The Best We Could Do
Double your Profits
The Clash of the Cultures
Hidden Repression
Blue Ocean Strategy
Tales of the Unexpected
Mohandas K. Ghandi
Making The Modern World
Power Failure
Homo Deus
The Fear Book
Viral
Technopoly
Q.E.D.
The Airbnb Story
Army Of None
Natural Capitalism
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
No Bullshit Guide to Math and Physics
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Barbarians At The Gate
Paradigms
Matthew Barney & Elizabeth Peyton
An Autobiography of Anthony Trollope
The True Believer
Modern Man in Search of a Soul
Rubicon
Nonviolent Communication
The Hate U Give
The Science of Success
A Mathematician's Apology
Chasing Hillary
Maps of Meaning
Golden Gates
A History of the Mind
Not The End of the World
The Talent Code
Margin of Safety
Stretching the School Dollar
My Forty Years with Ford
The Inner Lives of Markets
Confidence Game
A Year with Rumi
Dream Big
Originals
Endurance
The Man Who Fed The World
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius
Freakonomics
The Story of Civilization: The Reformation
Every Life Is On Fire
Measure What Matters
Black Edge
Traction
The Happiness Hypothesis
The Weather Makers
Night Sky with Exit Wounds