The Agriculture Shelf

Malabar Farm
Anneliese Abbott
The Kent State University Press
1118 Library, P.O. Box 5190, Kent OH 44242 http://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com
9781606354315, $29.95, PB, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Malabar-Farm-Bromfield-Sustainable-Agriculture/dp/16= 06354310

Synopsis: Established in 1939 by Pulitzer Prize winning author and farmer L= ouis Bromfield, Malabar Farm was once considered "the most famous farm in t=
he world." Farmers, conservationists, politicians, businessmen, and even a = few Hollywood celebrities (including Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who=
married there) flocked to rural Ohio to see how Bromfield restored worn-ou=
t land to lush productivity using conservation practices. Permanent, sustai= nable agriculture, Bromfield preached, was the "New Agriculture" that would=
transform the postwar world.

With the publication of "Malabar Farm: Louis Bromfield, Friends of the Land=
, and the Rise of Sustainable Agriculture", author Anneliese Abbott tells t=
he story of Malabar Farm within the context of the wider histories of soil = conservation and other environmental movements, especially the Ohio-based o= rganization Friends of the Land. As one of the few surviving landmarks of t= his movement, which became an Ohio state park in 1976, Malabar Farm provide=
s an intriguing case study of how soil conservation began, how it was margi= nalized during the 1950s, and how it now continues to influence the modern = idea of sustainable agriculture.

To see Malabar strictly as a modern production farm (or a nature preserve, =
or the home of a famous novelist) oversimplifies the complexity of what Bro= mfield actually did. Malabar wasn't a conventional farm or an organic farm;=
it was both. It represents a middle ground that is often lacking in modern=
discussions about sustainability or environmental issues, yet it remains c= ritically important.

Today, as Malabar Farm State Park remains a working farm with a new interpr= etive center that opened in 2006, its importance and impact continue for cu= rrent and future generations.

Critique: Illustrated with black-and-white photos, "Malabar Farm: Louis Bro= mfield, Friends of the Land, and the Rise of Sustainable Agriculture" is an=
impressively informative, well written, organized and presented study that=
will be of immense interest to sustainable agriculture advocates and pract= itioners. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, profe= ssional, community, college, and university library Agriculture, Farming, a=
nd Conservation collections, it should be noted for students, academia, agr= iculture policy makers, farmers, and non-specialist general readers with an=
interest in sustainable farming that "Malabar Farm: Louis Bromfield, Frien=
ds of the Land, and the Rise of Sustainable Agriculture" is also available =
in a digital book format (Kindle, $24.99).

Editorial Note: Anneliese Abbott grew up on a small Michigan farm. Her rese= arch on the history of Malabar Farm began while studying plant and soil sci= ence at the Ohio State University. She recently received a University Fello= wship to begin graduate research on the history of organic/sustainable farm= ing in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of = Wisconsin-Madison.

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