{"product_id":"global-heartland-cultivating-the-american-century-on-the-midwestern-farm-9781517910174","title":"Global Heartland: Cultivating the American Century on the Midwestern Farm","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHighlighting the critical role of midwestern farmers in the creation of the American Century\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Though often left out of the story of the making of the American Century, the farmers of the Midwest were at its center, fueling the nation's growing power in the midtwentieth century. In \u003ci\u003eGlobal Heartland, \u003c\/i\u003ePeter Simons explores how, after decades of slipping to the margins of an urbanizing economy, these farmers assumed renewed strategic and cultural importance as they produced essential sustenance for overseas troops and food rations for a domestic population. \u003cp\u003e During the mid-1900s, once-isolationist midwestern farmers came to see the continental interior not as an insulated space but as an environmentally rich landscape that mandated them to accept a larger stake in global affairs. Simons traces this transformation from an older agrarian internationalism rooted in religion and ties to family abroad to illuminate the increasing influence of the U.S. agricultural community during the Cold War. Examining regional political parties, Lend-Lease programs, wartime mass media, and farmer-led relief programs, and interspersing this history with vignettes revisiting the Mercy Wheat campaign of 1947, the postwar International Farm Youth Exchange, and the Flying Farmers organization, Simons offers an enlightening consideration of midwestern farmers' involvement in America's international ascent. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Unique in its focus on farmers and their work rather than the more common attention to food or agricultural commodities, \u003ci\u003eGlobal Heartland\u003c\/i\u003e complicates and expands ideas of the farm industry's role in American history. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Peter Simons\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Minnesota Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/06\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781517910174","brand":"University of Minnesota Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44189354918025,"sku":"9781517910174","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_68fd65eb-d47e-4180-8488-026780b3bde1.jpg?v=1748925556","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/global-heartland-cultivating-the-american-century-on-the-midwestern-farm-9781517910174","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}