My first impression of Wendell Berry's book, The Unsettling of America; Culture & Agriculture was "What could this possibly have to do with me?" I first thought that Berry wanted us all to be farmers, but then I realized this book argues that the way our society behaves is directly related to the decline of small farms and the state of our ecological system. Berry wanted the people who read this book to realize they are responsible for the land and the decisions they make pertaining to it can help or hurt the future of the land. Today, we are too involved with our own lives to remember that we need the land to survive, and every one of us takes part in keeping it healthy and functional.

Everyone takes their quality of life for granted. We assume there will always be energy and fuel. No one takes into account what happens when they drive around a parking lot for 20 minutes looking for the closet spot instead of walking an extra 50 feet. What happens is there is fuel wasted, meaning more gasoline needs to be produced. It also means that this person also missed out on exercise that would make them healthier. In our society, people do only wha

There are parts of the land that we will have to use, but they should be used in moderation. Berry states "In any biological system the first principal is restraint- that is, the natural or moral check that maintain a balance between use and continuity" (29). It's all right to use the things that have been put on this earth, but we need to know when to stop, and to make sure that what we are using is being replaced. For example, every time a tree is cut down, one could be planted. Preservation takes a large role in securing our future and the future of our children.

So, should we all be farmers? In a sense, yes. In some ways we should all think like farmers. No one has a greater respect for the land than farmers, and no one knows how to keep the earth healthy like farmers. If we all thought just a little bit like farmers, then we are making progress. By keeping parts of the earth untouched and using only what we have to, we can insure the earth will be here for many generations to enjoy.

Part of responsible behavior is being a part of the land by becoming a producer. Today's families do not grow their own vegetables in gardens, and do not even cook their own meals on a regular basis. Berry quotes Jules B. Billard as saying "Of the 6,000 to 8,000 items in the typical supermarket, 40 percent were not there a dozen years ago (qtd in Berry 60). Instead of canning our own applesauce, we now buy it at the supermarket in jars; with different flavors. Instead of squeezing our own orange juice, we buy it in cartons with pictures of Donald Duck on them. All this leads to more waste and sometimes less nutrition. By not producing some of our own goods, we lose sight of our tie to the land and take for granted products on supermarket shelves.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Donald Duck, Yahoo Internet, Culture Agriculture, Sierra Club, Jules Billard, Wendell Berry's, , future generations, becoming muddy, land survive, book berry, people read, river rising, earth healthy, responsible behavior, explore enjoy, sierra club,
Approximate Word count = 1441
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)