John Ikerd

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the absolute economic dependency of farming communities on the corporately controlled agri-food system. Producers have ...

In my previous blog post, I focused on opportunities for specific changes in the food system created by the COVID-19 crisis.

A response to questions I have been asked about the implications of the coronavirus pandemic for the future of the food system.

“American Farmers Feed the World!” This popular myth is promoted to maintain public support for a failed system of industrial agriculture.

Those of us who are unaffected, or less affected, economically by the crisis can easily afford to pay the economic costs of public health.

We are living through a time of fundamental change in human society, as is becoming increasingly clear. Climate change, fossil energy depletion, loss of biod...

In meeting the challenges of climate change, we can choose; We can bet on market-based solutions or follow the path of the Green New Deal.

Several presidential candidates are promising to reform antitrust policies to restore competition to markets. This blog examines why.

We are now seeing a corporate takeover of dairy production, which is the last bastion of full-time, independent animal production.

The Constitution of the United States gives very few economic responsibilities to government.

If we are to preserve our democracy and continue living in a civilized society, we must make government work. Unfortunately, too many Americans no longer bel...

Over the past few months, I have heard and read several urgent warnings of an impending civilizational collapse from highly respected voices in the sustainab...

We are confronted today with a multidimensional ecological, social, and economic crises that is rooted in our growing sense of disconnectedness from each oth...

Does farm size matter for agricultural sustainability? My answer consistently has been, yes! It’s easier to manage a small farm sustainably because sustainab...

People in rural communities are beginning to join forces to defend their health and well-being against the inherent threats posed by concentrated animal feed...

How do we make wise decisions during times of disagreement regarding facts? As I stated in my previous blog: “Even more important than disagreements regardin...

When two intelligent, informed people disagree about the “facts” of a particular situation it doesn’t necessarily mean that one is right and the other is wro...

Land-use plans for rural America are not a new idea. The Buffalo Commons was a proposal made first by Frank and Deborah Popper who argued in a 1987 essay tha...

The town “still boasts imposing brick buildings as a memory of better times. But the glow of coal’s legacy has cooled, as the boarding up of many of the town...

As an economist, I’m continually amazed at the importance people place on money. Money is the source of all problems or the means to all solutions. It is a s...