The Unsettling of America with Mary Berry

Title: The Unsettling of AmericaSubtitle: Why Farming Is About More Than FoodGuest: Mary Berry Fifty years after Wendell Berry published The Unsettling of America, many of the questions he raised have only become more urgent.Why are family farms disappearing? Why have rural communities continued to decline? What happens when agriculture becomes purely industrial, driven by efficiency, scale and profit rather than stewardship, local knowledge and human relationships? And can technology improve farming without severing our connection to the land that ultimately sustains us?In this episode of The New Orchard, I'm joined by Mary Berry, Executive Director of The Berry Center and daughter of the renowned American farmer, essayist, novelist and poet Wendell Berry. Together we explore the enduring ideas behind The Unsettling of America—a book that has shaped generations of farmers, environmentalists and thinkers seeking a more human vision of agriculture.Mary reflects on growing up in the Berry family, the values that shaped her upbringing, and the lessons she learned from watching her father dedicate his life to defending small farms, healthy rural communities and responsible stewardship of the land.Topics discussed:• Wendell Berry and The Unsettling of America• Family farms and the future of agriculture• Industrial farming and mechanisation• Regenerative and sustainable agriculture• Rural communities and local economies• Automation and the future of farming• Agrarian philosophy and land stewardship• Community, place and the human relationship with the landIf you're interested in regenerative agriculture, rural renewal, food security, Wendell Berry's philosophy or the future of farming in an increasingly technological world, I hope you'll find this conversation both thought-provoking and encouraging.Links and interview references: The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture Since its publication in 1977, The Unsettling of America has been recognized as a classic of American letters. In it, Wendell Berry argues that good farming is a cultural and spiritual discipline…https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-unsettling-of-america-9781619025998 The Berry Center is putting Wendell Berry’s writings to work by advocating for small farmers, land-conserving communities, and healthy regional economies.https://berrycenter.org The Berry Center established Our Home Place Meat in 2017 to develop a cooperative for small to midsize livestock farmers to sell local meat to regional markets.https://ourhomeplacemeat.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3IrxBIWiu0 Dyson Farming Project - https://dysonfarming.com Roundup Cancer Lawsuit Update - https://www.millerandzois.com/products-liability/roundup-cancer-lawsuits/ “The Great Agricultural Takeover”, short essay by Wendell Berry.  https://sustainablehuman.org/speaker/wendell-berry/ The Sycamore – Wendell Berry In the place that is my own place, whose earthI am shaped in and must bear, there is an old tree growing,a great sycamore that is a wondrous healer of itself.Fences have been tied to it, nails driven into it,hacks and whittles cut in it, the lightning has burned it.There is no year it has flourished in that has not harmed it.There is a hollow in itthat is its death, though its living brims whitelyat the lip of the darkness and flows outward.Over all its scars has come the seamless whiteof the bark. It bears the gnarls of its historyhealed over. It has risen to a strange perfectionin the warp and bending of its long growth.It has gathered all accidents into its purpose.It has become the intention and radiance of its dark fate.It is a fact, sublime, mystical and unassailable.In all the country there is no other like it.I recognize in it a principle, an indwellingthe same as itself, and greater, that I would be ruled by.I see that it stands in its place and feeds upon it,and is fed upon, and is native, and maker.Wendell Berry