ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a set of social characteristics identified inductively for the sustainable group that are associated with adoption: family traditions; critical family events with environmental or health consequences; and family resource conservation and frugality patterns. The transition from conventional to alternative farming systems literature likewise ignores relevant social barriers to adoption other than profitability. Whether all family members are relevant to adoption, does adoption involve a paradigm shift, do adopters differ fundamentally from conventional farmers, all remain unanswered questions about the social context for adoption. The most obvious social context affecting adoption is the family because family-farm persistence is dependent on the flexible household production form; a unit highly compatible with the varied and seasonal demands of agriculture. Conventional farmers regard sustainable farmers’ work habits as lazy or as busy-work generators. A criticism leveled by conventional farmers is that sustainable systems are adopted out of financial desperation.
