Queer Farmland: Land Access Strategies for Small-scale Agriculture

Farmers struggle to afford farmland because competing land uses raise prices higher than what is typically earned through farming, especially in small-scale and sustainable agriculture. Farmers often depend on an intimate... [ view full abstract ]

Farmers struggle to afford farmland because competing land uses raise prices higher than what is typically earned through farming, especially in small-scale and sustainable agriculture. Farmers often depend on an intimate partner’s income or labor to access land, yet few studies investigate sexual relationships in farmland access. I interrogate how sexuality shapes land access for small-scale sustainable agriculture through participant observation and interviews with 36 queer and heterosexual farmers in New England. I find that farmers’ sexual identities and relationships influence where farmers live, who they live and work with, and how they learn to farm. I argue that finding land, home, and knowledge are intertwined, heteronormative processes of capital accumulation shaped by racism and sexism. Queer farmers’ experiences navigating heteronormativity in land access demonstrate the relevance of sexuality to land conservation and food justice, the limits of organizing food production through sexual relationships, and alternatives to the “family farm.” This paper is being submitted for consideration in the "rural queerness" special session.