Growing Food, Growing a Movement

How Structural Racism Affects Immigrant Farmers

Authors

  • Claire Hutkins Seda Migrant Clinicians Network

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2020.094.038

Keywords:

Immigrants, Farmers, Structural Racism, Agriculture

Abstract

First paragraph:

Most U.S. farmers and farm owners are white, while most farmworkers are Latinx immi­grants. This timely book uncoils the history, insti­tutions, and politics that racialize farming in America and the growing number of immigrant farmers—primarily small-scale and Mexican—who have climbed the agricultural ladder despite the crushing barriers they face. Author Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern deftly spells out the social, political, and cultural influences that built racism and anti-immi­grant practices directly into the structure of Ameri­can agriculture. She then enriches the picture with the stories of 70 interviewed immigrant farm­ers who operate within this structure; excerpts from her interviews are spotlighted throughout the book. Additional interviews with agricultural sup­port and outreach programs emphasize how immi­grant farmers are often excluded from start-up capital, land access, and farmers market access. The storytelling element, paired with Minkoff-Zern’s first-person perspectives and reactions, enliven each chapter and extricate the book from a purely scholarly work into an engaging read on immigra­tion, race, and agriculture. . . .

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Author Biography

Claire Hutkins Seda, Migrant Clinicians Network

Senior Writer and Editor

Cover of "The New American Farmer"

Published

2020-09-21

How to Cite

Seda, C. (2020). Growing Food, Growing a Movement: How Structural Racism Affects Immigrant Farmers. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 9(4), 347–349. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2020.094.038