What Is Her.meneutics?

The Christianity Today women's blog provides news and analysis from the perspective of evangelical women. We cover news stories and books related to international justice and evangelism, pregnancy and sexual ethics, marriage, parenting, and celibacy, pop culture, health and body image, raising girls, and women in the church and parachurch.

Her.meneutics is edited by associate editor Katelyn Beaty and online editor Sarah Pulliam Bailey.

Free Newsletters

books we're reading



« A Sinking Argument on Gender and Courage | Main | Joni Eareckson Tada: Health Care Bill Concerns »

March 16, 2010

'Femivores' and Food Ethics

The trend toward locally grown, naturally raised food is giving some women more fulfilling lives than the workplace ever did.

Lisa Graham McMinn

If a daily trip to the vegetable patch to harvest vegetables and to the chicken coop to gather eggs means a woman is a femivore, then so be it, though I think the term is rather silly. Historically speaking, folks who did those things were just called "farmers," at least if they sold their produce or eggs. Otherwise, they were called "gardeners who kept chickens."

Every day I visit our hens, check their feed and water, and collect eggs. In the summer I freeze, can, and dry fruits and vegetables, and this year hope for a good honey harvest from the beehives. I never thought I was "radical" (see Shannon Hayes's 2010 book, Radical Homemakers). Rather, I’ve been inspired to live a little more like my grandmother did. I always admired her and her simple farmer’s life.

2954632436_b4f12478eb.jpg

In last week's New York Times article “The Femivore’s Dilemma,” Peggy Orenstein describes the trend among educated women in the West to leave successful but unsatisfying careers to reconnect with nature by keeping bees and chickens and growing vegetables. While the term is a play off of Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Orenstein uses femivore to describe women who are taking "the very principles of self-sufficiency, autonomy and personal fulfillment that drove [them] into the work force in the first place," and applying them in the home.

Orenstein cites four women who gave up careers to build coops in their backyards, and she connects coop-building to the women’s search for meaning. We didn’t find it as homemakers in the 1950s, and we haven’t found it in a paycheck since. Orenstein thinks keeping chickens is another way women are searching for meaning; if they can be productive and connected to nature, life will be fulfilling. Yet she worries that the coop may become one more cage for women rather than a path toward meaning — one more expectation for women who want to have it all.

Pollan's books speak to a growing movement of folks paying more attention to their food. Many are motivated by health and/or the planet’s, and/or because they want farm laborers and animals to be treated fairly and respectfully. Many who have read Pollan's books or Barbara Kingsolver's latest, Animal Vegetable Miracle, and who watch documentaries like Food, Inc. are eating more locally produced and naturally grown and raised food, and a fair number are learning to grow and raise their own. The movement is partly a response to consumerism, rejecting the crazy notion that buying stuff will bring happiness. We have always had counter-cultural prophets reminding us that we are part of nature rather than above it, and that living simple, gentle, and connected lives brings a deeper satisfaction than can another pair of shoes.

IMG_1579.jpg

As a sociologist, I’ve been following the back-to-the-land movement for some time. I don’t see a strong link between chicken keeping and gender issues. The explosion of backyard gardens and chickens is part of a larger effort to reclaim food sovereignty found in the rise in community gardens, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), farmer’s markets, and food co-ops. It is a rejection of corporate agribusiness and a desire to do a better job growing healthy and just food. As we’ve discovered wasteful and harmful aspects of the corporate food system, we are returning to more local choices (sometimes as local as our backyard), and finding meaning living with limits and within the seasons of harvest.

For the record, I know as many men as women who are raising chickens and tending gardens (though my data are as anecdotal as Orenstein’s). Mostly I know couples who are making the choice to produce more of their own food. Yes, some educated high-achieving women disillusioned with work are quitting their jobs to create a homemade home. But I suspect a good number of men would appreciate the same choice. If more women than men are leaving careers to create more meaningful lives at home, it may reflect the greater freedom women have to do so.

I look beyond gender and find hope in this movement — in being mindful of our place in God’s creation, of our responsibility to represent God by being good care-takers that consume responsibly (and less), so that all God’s creation might flourish, including our neighbors and our own souls.

Lisa Graham McMinn's next book, co-written with her daughter, is Walking Gently on the Earth: Making Faithful Choices About Food, Energy, Shelter and More (InterVarsity, August 2010).

Share |

Posted by Katelyn Beaty on March 16, 2010 2:20 PM

Comments

Is it just me, or wouldn't a "femivore" be a creature that eats women (or feminists)? Poor, poor choice of terms.

I have found vastly more fulfillment in homemaking as I have become more intentional about it, shifting from being a "consumption manager" to being a producer in some small ways. I definitely see that as a side benefit, though, and not as the driving motivation.

Posted By: Jenn P. | March 16, 2010 7:53 PM

I'm surprised that they have to come up with a label, even a linguistically questionable one, for women who are making a choice to do something good for their families.
It is very rewarding to grow your own healthy food, or if you can't do that, to buy healthy foods locally grown by others.
As consumers, we have the power to improve the food supply and slow down corporate abuses within the food industry.

Healthy-Eating-Support.org/

Posted By: Suzy Staywell | March 17, 2010 8:29 AM

With absolutely no intention of being rude - seriously! - I found the following paragraph hilarious: "Orenstein cites four women who gave up careers to build coops in their backyards, and she connects coop-building to the women’s search for meaning. We didn’t find it as homemakers in the 1950s, and we haven’t found it in a paycheck since. Orenstein thinks keeping chickens is another way women are searching for meaning; if they can be productive and connected to nature, life will be fulfilling. Yet she worries that the coop may become one more cage for women rather than a path toward meaning — one more expectation for women who want to have it all."

Women actually leave their careers behind to find meaning in their lives by...building a chicken coop? As for "not finding meaning as homemakers in the 1950's, nor in a paycheck since"...I couldn't help asking if it's even possible for some women to be happy (and I'm sure some men reading this would ask the same thing). Nor could I help picturing our ancestors rolling over in their graves laughing at the angst inherent in the idea that "the coop may become one more cage for women rather than a path toward meaning." Only in this privileged day and age could such a statement be made.

Posted By: Lucie | March 17, 2010 9:00 AM

I look forward to reading your book, Lisa. I've read a number of books on the food industry, including Michael Pollan and Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." What was missing for me is the spritual connection; not a "mother earth" one but all Sovereign God one. I dislike how organic and sustainable type lifestyles are often tagged as hippie or liberal when it transcends that. And, I believe it's pro-family in every way.

As for the chicken coop, Lucie, you do have a point. Raising chickens is not going to ultimately be more fulfilling than any other thing we put into our lives. The point is God, that is what we women are lacking when we keep searching. But still, as career driven as I am, I believe cooking good food from scratch is my best skill, and that's a skill that I hope gains more interest among my generation in place of fast, cheap food. I don't even have a yard and I still grew tomatoes, eggplant, herbs and zucchini in pots last year. Anyone can do this!

Posted By: Stephanie | March 17, 2010 3:54 PM

I love this article, but I'm also sure that a femivore would technically be someone who eats women or feminists...

Posted By: Anonymous | March 18, 2010 12:08 AM

I am all for raising our food in backyard gardens and even chickens if you have a lot of space, but the majority of women live in the city with little space and all kinds of regulations. Have you ever raised chickens? I have. They are very noisy and make a big mess! The smell is... Well, neighbors are not so understanding.
Isn't this just another rabbit trail to distract us from the real issues? In Christ I am a princess of the Creator of the whole universe with two way contact. I have been forgiven for every sin and guaranteed forgiveness every time I admit failure in the present and future. God promises to give me all kinds of practical help and guidance for the asking when I commit my life to obeying him. He helps us help others in significant ways and multiplies our efforts. I can put all my energy into projects that matter, not raising my own food off by myself.
I could not imagine a more fulfilled life than I have right now. It's all there in the Book the Creator gave us. I highly recommend it.

Posted By: Sally Dye | March 18, 2010 10:35 AM

I've enjoyed reading your posts, and smile big at the good speculations of what "femivore" is actually describing. Let's hope the term doesn't stick... And yes, Stephanie, you will find God, who is our Creator, Sustainer, and One who loves earth and all it's inhabitants as the motivator behind Walking Gently.
Here's to finding personal and ecological health and beauty in our backyards, our local communities, and as we engage with fairness and justice our global neighbors.

Posted By: Lisa McMinn | March 18, 2010 10:35 AM

I agree with Sally Dye. This is just a distraction from the real issue. The point is that Christians should not look to a particular lifestyle/tradition/occupation to find fulfillment, but to find fulfillment in Christ, no matter what their lifestyle is. And as Lucie pointed out, "getting back to the basics" is, ironically, a privilege that not everyone can afford money/time for.

Posted By: Nadine | March 20, 2010 5:49 PM

Having raised chickens, this whole thing sounds a bit sentimentalized to me. Chicken poop is one of the smelliest things on earth. We unwisely accepted an offer of chicken manure for the garden one summer, and had to spend the next few months without ever closing the windows of the car, because it was somehow permeated with pungent fumes -- in spite of the fact that the manure had been in a closed pail, and we were driving an old Jeep that had no carpeting.
I'm not sure what was supposed to be fulfilling about this.
I didn't find gutting or plucking the chickens to be especially fulfilling either!

On the other hand, if anyone gets satisfaction out of this, more power to you. Go for it, and enjoy it.

We don't all need to be the same.

Posted By: Ann | March 22, 2010 4:49 PM

I personally do not see a problem with women leaving the workforce in order to become housewives. I applaud them for doing this because I know they must face criticism from their families and friends at times. These women felt as though they needed to do something that would connect them with their families. I personally would not want to become involved with a chicken coop, but to each his/her own. Obviously, the women featured in this story felt as though they were not making a difference in the environment or in their families while they were in the workforce.

Posted By: Claire R. | April 7, 2010 10:04 AM

I don't think the issue of gardening and raising chickens is simply a gender one. All across the country, people are demanding their local governments change laws to allow them to keep chickens.

I think it has a lot to do with just how wired this world has become and how overly connected and "on" we all are. Getting your hands dirty in the earth and going out to tend your chickens and seeing nature work (I mean, eggs appearing is like magic), is the opposite. It's the antidote to the craziness of the world we live in. And it is amazing how things do come full circle.

If someone wants to drop out of the rat race and enter the chicken coop, why not?

Posted By: Andrew the Chicken Raiser | August 10, 2010 2:33 PM

forGreat post. Our family just starting raising chickens. As others have pointed out, it has less to do with gender and more to do with taking baby steps toward inhabiting and enjoying a different world–one in which eggs don't come from chicken factories with recall labels.
I can think of other reasons too: great way to turn food scraps into food and fertilizer: good chores for the kids; a way to share with neighbors that is not money-based.
I'm a dad who raises chickens, but I wouldn't call myself an androvore. And my wife, who knows more about chickens that I do, is certainly no femivore. But we're all for raising chickens and transforming the home from "consumption outpost" to a place of production–however small-scale that may be.

Posted By: Sam Ewell | August 26, 2010 4:56 PM

I think it's great when women choose to garden together. I'm happy with this movement as long as it doesn't become something demeaning.

Posted By: Sally Survivor | January 15, 2011 9:16 PM

this is great news. the activity itself relieves stress as well. i wish them the best of luck. great article

Posted By: Chicago | January 24, 2011 6:08 PM

Post a comment:





Verification (needed to reduce spam):

tags

February 2012
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29