Farmers Unite!
Planting a Protest for Fair Prices
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In the late 1970s, grain prices had tanked, farm auction notices filled newspapers, and people had forgotten that food didn't grow in grocery stores. So, on February 5, 1979, thousands of tractors from all parts of the US flooded Washington, DC, in protest.
Author Lindsay H. Metcalf, a journalist who grew up on a family farm, shares this rarely told story of grassroots perseverance and economic justice. In 1979, US farmers traveled to Washington, DC to protest unfair prices for their products. Farmers wanted fair prices for their products and demanded action from Congress. After police corralled the tractors on the National Mall, the farmers and their tractors stayed through a snowstorm and dug out the city. Americans were now convinced they needed farmers, but the law took longer. Boldly told and highlighted with stunning archival images, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of the American farmer that still resonates today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Accessible prose and quotations from primary sources enrich this nonfiction photo-illustrated picture book, which recounts the American farmers' protests that took place in the 1970s and '80s. Using variations on a refrain ("the farmers planted a plan... /... to send in the tractors"), Metcalf details how tractors became a significant symbol and tool in farmers' fight to seek governmental policy change and assistance as well as public support. Paragraphs of text on monochrome backgrounds face photos from the time, for example of an old tractor set on fire. The volume has a visually institutional bent, but its coverage of lesser-known protests makes it a solid school or library resource. Back matter includes an author's note, a farm protest timeline, a table detailing U.S. farm prices through the years, and a list of sources. Ages 8 12.
