Wendell Berry was an essayist, novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. He lived and farmed with his wife, Tanya, in Henry County, Kentucky until his recent death at age 92 on August 31, 2026. To get a better idea of his accomplishments, see his obituary in the Kentucky Lantern here.
of the Courier-Journal
During his long career, he was honored with numerous awards, including the Aiken Taylor Award in Modern American Poetry, the John Hay Award of the Orion Society, the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Louis Bromfield Society Award, among many others. He was awarded the 2010 National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.
The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture
My introduction to Wendell Berry’s work was The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, an iconic work of environmental writing published in 1977 that describes our estrangement from the land through industrial agriculture, calling it a cultural & spiritual crisis. Today’s agribusiness takes farming out of its cultural context and away from families. As a result, we are estranged from the intimate knowledge of the land.
Counterpoint Press
Though the book is nearly 50 years old, his arguments & observations are more relevant than ever. Sustainable farming is not just a job, but a deep cultural & spiritual discipline. Industrial agriculture and the “get big or get out” mindset has replaced small family farms with profit-driven, chemically dependent corporations. This industrial shift removes people from the land, leading to ruined soil, broken rural communities, and a loss of local care for nature.
The Unsettling of America is a foundational text for modern environmentalism, the local food movement, and sustainable farming. Berry’s warnings about corporate farming and ecological loss remain true and urgent today.
Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food
Another of his books that I’ve read recently is Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food, published in 2009. A thought-provoking collection of essays, the book draws on Berry’s decades of farming to explore the connections between what we eat and how the land is treated. It also features an insightful Introduction by Michael Pollan.
Counterpoint Press
Berry famously asserts that “Eating is an agricultural act,” reminding us that every meal ties us directly to the land and the broader food economy. Several of the essays contrast large-scale industrial farming with small family farms, analyzing how scale & commercialization impact food quality and rural communities. He questions whether mass-produced organic food in supermarkets truly measures up to locally grown, sustainable alternatives. He features profiles of independent farmers practicing intelligent, sustainable land stewardship.
Only a farmer would delve so deeply into the origins of food, and only a writer of Berry’s caliber could convey it with such conviction. An originator of the slow food movement, he reminds us to take the time to understand the basics of what we eat. For the last 50 years, Berry has embodied mindful eating through his land practices and his writing.
Novels and Poetry
Berry was also a gifted novelist and poet. I’ve included two of his novels on my recommended reading list. Jayber Crow(2000) follows the life of a man who returns to his small hometown in Kentucky to reflect on faith, community, & the painful modernization of rural America. Hannah Coulter (2004) provides a glimpse at an elderly woman looking back on a life spent navigating the changing landscapes of rural living and the enduring bonds of community & family.
While I am not a great reader of poetry, I have been assured by some who are that Wendell Berry’s New Collected Poems (2012) is his best & most comprehensive poetry volume, capturing decades of his reflections on nature, place, & community.
