Originally published in 1988, as part of the Rural Studies Series of the Rural Sociological Society, this is a collection of papers from the Second National Conference on American Farm Women in Historical Perspective, held in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 16-18, 1986. Includes the subjects of the impact of social and economic change on farm women; perspectives on the work of ethnic minorities and the Native American experience.

In the small communities of Wisconsin a rich blend of European cultures and practices survive. These communities and their people are unique in the ways they have responded to change in the late nineteenth century and twentieth century.

In little more than a century, industrial practices have altered every aspect of the cheesemaking process, from the bodies of the animals that provide the milk to the microbial strains that ferment it. Reinventing the Wheel explores what has been lost as raw-milk, single-farm cheeses have given way to the juggernaut of factory production. In the process, distinctiveness and healthy rural landscapes have been exchanged for higher yields and monoculture. However, Bronwen and Francis Percival find reason for optimism. Around the world—not just in France, but also in the United States, England, and Australia—enterprising cheesemakers are exploring the techniques of their great-grandparents. At the same time, using sophisticated molecular methods, scientists are upending conventional wisdom about the role of microbes in every part of the world. Their research reveals the resilience and complexity of the indigenous microbial communities that contribute to the flavor and safety of cheese. One experiment at a time, these dynamic scientists, cheesemakers, and dairy farmers are reinventing the wheel.

"Hassanein focuses on two organizations: the Ocooch Grazers Network, a group of dairy farmers who practice intensive rotational grazing, and the Wisconsin Women's Sustainable Farming Network. The different lived experiences of particular members in each group shaped the ways local knowledge was generated and exchanged."--BOOK JACKET.