Ethnic Groups and Knowledge Systems in Agriculture

Ethnic diversity and the patterned adoption of soil conservation in the strawberry hills of Monterey, California

“…The history of ethnic participation in the strawberry industry has been well-documented by Wells (1988Wells ( , 1991 and this discussion builds on that work. 5.…”

“…This perspective is informed by the concept of the knowledge system, a term originally used in developing country settings by anthropologists and ethnoecologists to refer to shared indigenous linguistic terminology about natural resource management (Brokenshaw et al, 1980;Brush, 1993;Conklin, 1954). The concept has since acquired a broader meaning (Brokenshaw, 1989;McCorkle, 1989;Wells, 1991), which will be used in this article to refer to the shared set of knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes acquired by individuals with common historical experiences. Knowledge alone is accumulated by an individual through the socialization process and his or her subsequent economic and social experiences.…”

“…They arrived as agricultural laborers but quickly moved into independent production roles. The Alien Land Laws of 1913Laws of , 1920Laws of , and 1923 prevented "foreigners" from leasing or owning land, so many Japanese farmers turned to sharecropping (Wells, 1991). It was not until after World War II that Japanese were able to return to farm ownership.…”

“…Thus Mexican achievements in the strawberry industry represent a rare farmworker success story within the highly capitalized California agricultural economy, made possible by a conjuncture of available capital and market demand combined with the fact that strawberries are well-suited to small-scale management and labor intensive production (Wells, 1988). Mexican berry growers have now equaled or exceeded the number of Japanese and Anglo growers combined, not only in the hilly land around the slough, but in the central coast region in general (Wells, 1991). 5…”

“…Notes 1. The ethnic terms were drawn from the work of Wells (1988Wells ( , 1991 on the California strawberry industry. The term Anglo includes all Caucasians of Northern European ancestry and is commonly used on the West Coast to distinguish members of the dominant White society from the expanding Latino population.…”