This thesis is a case study of a family of farmers in Mississippi’s Piney Woods who use horse-drawn equipment to grow crops. This practice is notable in the context of a larger agricultural system that prioritizes mechanization (particularly the use of tractors). The production style and their use of local direct selling via farmers markets allowed them to thrive economically because they were able to tap into a niche market of consumers desiring an alternative to the modern, conventional agricultural system.
Other literature on Alternative Food Networks (AFN) discusses the issues of alterity and appropriation—that is, whether AFN ventures are sufficiently alternative and are not simply fronts for the very institutions or global players being resisted—but does not get into how participants—producers in particular—might utilize impression management strategies to convince others that they are sufficiently alternative. The family in question used narrative, rhetoric, and space to convince others that they carried alterity and also that they were traditional; the spaces they constructed on their property, which included a general store, gave visitors the impression of a restoration of the past. Both impression management and nostalgia played into what I call the traditional–modern framework, a conceptional arena that allowed participants to reflect their sense of identity and ideology.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis is a case study of a family of farmers in Mississippi’s Piney Woods who use horse-drawn equipment to grow crops. This practice is notable in the context of a larger agricultural system that prioritizes mechanization (particularly the use of tractors). The production style and their use of local direct selling via farmers markets allowed them to thrive economically because they were able to tap into a niche market of consumers desiring an alternative to the modern, conventional agricultural system. </p> <p>Other literature on Alternative Food Networks (AFN) discusses the issues of alterity and appropriation—that is, whether AFN ventures are sufficiently alternative and are not simply fronts for the very institutions or global players being resisted—but does not get into how participants—producers in particular—might utilize impression management strategies to convince others that they are sufficiently alternative. The family in question used narrative, rhetoric, and space to convince others that they carried alterity and also that they were traditional; the spaces they constructed on their property, which included a general store, gave visitors the impression of a restoration of the past. Both impression management and nostalgia played into what I call the traditional–modern framework, a conceptional arena that allowed participants to reflect their sense of identity and ideology.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lance, Matthew Corbin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Anthropology and Sociology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jeffrey Kaufmann","Bridget Hayden","Dana Fennell"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:27Z","subjects":["alternative food networks","impression management","farmer's markets","draft animal","organic","modernity","Anthropology","Geography","Sociology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/45","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jeffrey Kaufmann","Bridget Hayden","Dana Fennell"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lance, Matthew Corbin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-08-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Anthropology and Sociology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["alternative food networks","impression management","farmer's markets","draft animal","organic","modernity","Anthropology","Geography","Sociology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/45"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis is a case study of a family of farmers in Mississippi’s Piney Woods who use horse-drawn equipment to grow crops. This practice is notable in the context of a larger agricultural system that prioritizes mechanization (particularly the use of tractors). The production style and their use of local direct selling via farmers markets allowed them to thrive economically because they were able to tap into a niche market of consumers desiring an alternative to the modern, conventional agricultural system.
Other literature on Alternative Food Networks (AFN) discusses the issues of alterity and appropriation—that is, whether AFN ventures are sufficiently alternative and are not simply fronts for the very institutions or global players being resisted—but does not get into how participants—producers in particular—might utilize impression management strategies to convince others that they are sufficiently alternative. The family in question used narrative, rhetoric, and space to convince others that they carried alterity and also that they were traditional; the spaces they constructed on their property, which included a general store, gave visitors the impression of a restoration of the past. Both impression management and nostalgia played into what I call the traditional–modern framework, a conceptional arena that allowed participants to reflect their sense of identity and ideology.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Selling Tradition: Impression Management and Draft Animal Agriculture of a Mississippi Farmstead"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jeffrey Kaufmann","Bridget Hayden","Dana Fennell"],"dc:creator":["Lance, Matthew Corbin"],"dc:date.available":["2014-08-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis is a case study of a family of farmers in Mississippi’s Piney Woods who use horse-drawn equipment to grow crops. This practice is notable in the context of a larger agricultural system that prioritizes mechanization (particularly the use of tractors). The production style and their use of local direct selling via farmers markets allowed them to thrive economically because they were able to tap into a niche market of consumers desiring an alternative to the modern, conventional agricultural system.
Other literature on Alternative Food Networks (AFN) discusses the issues of alterity and appropriation—that is, whether AFN ventures are sufficiently alternative and are not simply fronts for the very institutions or global players being resisted—but does not get into how participants—producers in particular—might utilize impression management strategies to convince others that they are sufficiently alternative. The family in question used narrative, rhetoric, and space to convince others that they carried alterity and also that they were traditional; the spaces they constructed on their property, which included a general store, gave visitors the impression of a restoration of the past. Both impression management and nostalgia played into what I call the traditional–modern framework, a conceptional arena that allowed participants to reflect their sense of identity and ideology.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/45"],"dc:subject":["alternative food networks","impression management","farmer's markets","draft animal","organic","modernity","Anthropology","Geography","Sociology"],"dc:title":["Selling Tradition: Impression Management and Draft Animal Agriculture of a Mississippi Farmstead"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Anthropology and Sociology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:27Z"}