Farming systems research: Flexible diversification of a small family farm in southeast Michigan

Michael Mascarenhas ()

Agriculture and Human Values, 2001, vol. 18, issue 4, 401 pages

Abstract: In an era where the dominant implicitfarming policy has been ``get big or get out,''Titus Farms provides an exemplar to thecontrary. This paper explains the success storybehind a medium-sized 145-acre fruit andvegetable family farm in southeast Michigan.Using agroecosystems analysis, this case studydemonstrates a rigor and holism essential tofarming systems research and analysis. In-depthinterviews with the principal farm manager andowner were conducted during the fall and winterof 1999. Data, presented in the form ofvignettes, provide context and ascribe meaningto the rich and imaginative voice of the smallfamily farmer. It is concluded that thissuccess is directly attributed to the conceptof flexible diversification.It is through flexible diversification thatTitus Farms has imbued stability andsustainability seldom seen by similar familyfarms of this type, and for that reason alone,Titus Farms is a successful enterprize. Assuch, it presents a unique case study andopportunity for farming systems researchanalysis. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001

Keywords: Alternative agriculture; Case study and sustainable agriculture; Farming systems research; Local knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/A:1015233512117 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:18:y:2001:i:4:p:391-401

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10460

DOI: 10.1023/A:1015233512117

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture and Human Values is currently edited by Harvey S. James Jr.

More articles in Agriculture and Human Values from Springer, The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().