Panel argues industrial agriculture is shrinking farms; speakers call for 'culture of care'

Speakers at a Humanities Tennessee program in Knoxville used a panel on craft and agriculture to connect historical context with present‑day policy concerns, warning that an industrial agricultural model has diminished small, place‑based farming.

Brooks Lamb, special adviser for strategic communications at American Farmland Trust, framed the talk around a rivalry between industrialism and agrarianism and read a recent USDA figure: "we now have 1.865 million American farms," which he said represents a decline of about five million farms since 1935 — roughly a 73% reduction. Lamb argued that policy decisions, including New Deal‑era production controls for crops such as tobacco, have shaped whether small farms could persist or be pushed toward consolidation.

Panelist Ally Simpson, who runs a roughly 60‑acre mixed vegetable and livestock operation near Ten Mile, Tennessee, described day‑to‑day barriers for small growers: labor challenges, certification hurdles (she noted her vegetables are "not USDA certified"), market access and rising land costs. Lamb and other panelists urged policy and cultural shifts to make farming more accessible: more education and apprenticeships, support for farm transfers and local markets, and policies that value ecological stewardship rather than incentivizing expansion at any cost.

The panel included Tennessee‑specific data. Lamb noted that Tennessee lost about 6,800 farms between the 2017 and 2022 agricultural censuses (about a 10% decline), and he said nearly all of that loss occurred on farms of 500 acres or smaller. Panelists also flagged rising land prices near urban markets (one panelist cited a nearby 32‑acre parcel priced at $34,000 per acre) as a barrier to entry for new and transitioning farmers.

Discussion moved beyond numbers to practical community responses: panelists and audience members pointed to local programs such as the Tennessee Folk Life apprenticeship program and a community center (referred to by an audience speaker as "Bottom Knox") that runs sewing, kiln and entrepreneurship training for young people. The moderator noted a resources page and QR code on the event agenda for attendees seeking follow‑up links.

Panelists ended with a call for a "culture of care" that combines training, shared equipment and mutual aid alongside policy changes to make farming and crafting sustainable and intergenerational. The event closed with audience questions and local resource connections.