In addition to an agricultural space, the farm is also a site for environmental activism and politics. This is seen clearly in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Her text begins with a chapter called "A Fable for Tomorrow" and a description of a idyllic, romanticized farm. Within only a few paragraphs, however, Carson subverts the traditional notion of a fairy tale; the  "Tomorrow" portrayed in her work is far from positive. She notes, "Some evil spell had settled on the community; mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and the sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was a shadow of death. The farmers spoke of much illness among their families" (CR 2). Her imagery indicates that something has gone significantly wrong on the local family farm. 



The problem? Chemicals. More specifically, DDT and other pesticides poisoned altered the food, inundating fruits and vegetables with their harmful substances. As a result, the health of the community suffered. Carson's work, a manifesto of sorts, argues that consumers have an obligation to become activists for the cause of removing chemical processing from America's farms. She states, "We urgently need an end to these false assurances, to the sugar coating of unpalatable facts. It is the public that is being asked to assume the risks that the insect controllers calculate." In doing so, she theorizes the farm as a space of environmental activism wherein one must take personal responsibility for the food that they put into their body, being mindful of chemical processing and health.