#farmers

No countryman ever speaks to an animal without blaspheming it, although if he be engaged in some solitary work and inspired to music, he invariably sings a hymn in a voice that seems to have some vague association with wood pulp. ↗

— A.E. Coppard

#inspirational

...The [Renaissance] interest in education was also influenced by a changing economy. For different reasons in different countries, agriculture was becoming less lucrative, and many farmers decided to move to the cities to take up new occupations. However, to succeed in a trade they needed to know how to read and perform bookkeeping tasks ... Those who remained on the farm found life much the same as in the Middle Ages. In fact, in some agricultural regions the Renaissance economy devastated farmers. For example, as the wool industry grew in importance, more landowners in England decided to raise sheep instead of growing crops. They therefore needed fewer farmworkers, and many peasants lost their livelihoods. ↗

— Patricia D. Netzley

#age

When I went to first grade and the other children said that their fathers were farmers, I simply didn't believe them. I agreed in order to be polite, but in my heart I knew that those men were impostors, as farmers and as fathers, too. In my youthful estimation, Laurence Cook defined both categories. To really believe that others even existed in either category was to break the First Commandment. ↗

— Jane Smiley

#fathers #fathers-and-daughters #men

Woods are grim places. Farmers shoot squirrels, crows, magpies, and hang them up on trees to warn Mother Nature to get it together or else. Much notice she takes, being in league with God. They're a right pair, more carnage than the rest of us put together. ↗

— Jonathan Gash

#farmers #god #lovejoy #mother-nature #nature

American farmers produced 600 more calories per person per day in 2000 than they did in 1980. But some calories got cheaper than others: Since 1980, the price of sweeteners and added fats (most of them derived, respectively, from subsidized corn and subsidized soybeans), dropped 20 percent, while the price of fresh fruits and vegetables increased by 40 percent. ↗

— Michael Pollan

#calories #corn #farmers #fats #fresh

To help U.S. workers, farmers and businesses, and America's long-term economic security, Congress should take decisive action to bring about fair trade with China, instead of squandering this opportunity on a weak Republican bill. ↗

— Joe Baca

#action #america #bill #bring #businesses

While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman. ↗

— Giovanni Boccaccio

#farmers #generally #hens #men #rooster

We hope that the plain people - the labourers and small farmers - will take this opportunity of coming together and working out the National programme. ↗

— Eamon de Valera

#farmers #hope #national #opportunity #out

Innovations that are guided by smallholder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and environment will be necessary to ensure food security in the future. ↗

— Bill Gates

#circumstances #economy #ensure #environment #farmers

In the developing world, it's about time that women are on the agenda. For instance, 80 percent of small-subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are women, and yet all the programs in the past were predominantly focused on men. ↗

— Melinda Gates

#africa #agenda #developing #developing world #farmers