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theses

While the U.S. has experienced losses of farmland to urban development, agriculture persists in a transformed way in urbanized areas. While the total number of acres of farmland has decreased, there has been an increase in the total numbers of farms by 4% between 2002 and 2007. The increase may be due in part to a more recent trend toward the “urbanization of agriculture” by location and farm type. Paralleling this there has been a trend toward the ‘feminization of agriculture’, as women’s roles within agriculture have become more prominent over the last few decades. From 2002 to 2007 there has been a 30% increase in the number of women owning and operating their own farms. As the growing consumer preference for healthier food parallels the urbanization of agriculture and emergence of alternative farming methods, I argue that the increased percentage of women participating is a function of these factors and these trends may be interrelated. Using statistical analysis of national level agricultural census data and in-depth interviews of male and female farmers in eleven counties in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan areas, this study examines the relationship between urbanization and numbers of women farming as principal operators. My findings indicate that higher numbers of female farm operators exist in regions of increased urbanization where numbers of alternative agriculture farms are also high. These trends suggest that a shift has occurred from rural, traditional farming is some states, to alternative farming in peri-urban areas along with increasing numbers of female heads of farms.

ETD_6309

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Deborah L. Greenwood

doi:10.7282/T3F47QZD

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.