New American Farmer - Immigration, Race, and the Struggle for Sustainability

About this book

"The New American Farmer explores the role of Latino/a immigrant farmers in the United States as they transition from farmworkers to farm owners. Analyzing the dynamics of racial oppression and farmworker agency, this book looks at the geographic, political, and economic barriers immigrant farmworkers must overcome to change their social and economic positioning, as well as their impressive, yet under-acknowledged role in sustainable food systems. These stories of combined struggle and perseverance are not commonly told within the vast literature on food and racial injustice. Although we are hearing more from scholars and journalists about food system inequities in fields and factories and inadequate access to fresh and healthy foods, how people are using culture to resist related discriminatory policies and programs is not frequently discussed. This manuscript will contribute a new perspective on racial inequity and justice in the food movement--one where sustainable practices are part of reclaiming and resisting oppressive narratives and histories. Globally, the movement for food sovereignty is growing and international organizations, agencies, and scholars are looking for more successful examples of sustainable farming being done by communities of color, immigrants, and formally dispossessed peasants"--